


Fate Masks of Heroism

by GilgameshKOH



Category: Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, Persona 4
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2018-09-15 02:47:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 87,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9215381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GilgameshKOH/pseuds/GilgameshKOH
Summary: Heroic Spirits. Those whose Legends have transcended mankind and earned them an eternal place in history. Now, they will be called forth once again, this time as Masks of the Soul, to help a young boy and his friends to fight against the threat looming over Inaba. Can they carve their own Legends? Or will Fate sentence them to fail and be forgotten?





	1. Inaba

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or Fate or anything in the nasuverse, any resemblance to any other Persona 4 or Fate fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.**
> 
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> **Special thanks to SaintInfernalNeos for helping me with this story and Lost Idea Alchemist who helped edit the later chapters. ******
> 
>  
> 
> **[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]**

Yu Narukami opened his eyes and found himself riding in a deep-blue and velvet-themed limousine. Sitting opposite him was an elderly man with an unusually long nose and sitting next to him was an elegant lady with platinum blonde hair, pale skin and golden coloured eyes. She was dressed entirely in dark blue with matching high heel shoes and her clothing had black and golden accessories decorating it.

"What….is this place?" asked the confused boy, looking around.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room." the old man said in greeting.

"The Velvet Room?" Yu parroted "What kind of place is this?"

"Some introductions are in order first. I'm Igor and I am delighted to make your acquaintance." smiled the elderly man, introducing himself.

"Indeed. Welcome." the woman also greeted. "I will be here to accompany you on your journey. You may call me Margaret."

"Er…nice to meet you both?" dubiously said Yu, bowing slightly

"Tell me, young man, do you believe in fortune telling?" Igor suddenly asked, the smirk never leaving his face.

"I like to keep an open mind about a lot of things." calmly replied the boy.

"Good." softly chuckled the man, hands crossed under his nose. "Now, each reading is done with the same cards, yet the results are always different… Life itself follows the same principles, doesn't it?" Igor chuckled flipping over a card, from a deck of cards that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, seven cards laying facedown through the table. "Hmm… The Tower in the upright position represents the immediate future. It seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent."

"That…doesn't sound good…" stated Yu, suddenly getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"The card indicating the future beyond that is…." the next card was flipped, revealing it to be a moon with a sad face. "The Moon, in the upright position. This card represents hesitation and mystery… very interesting indeed. It seems you will encounter a misfortune at your destination, and a great mystery will be imposed upon you. In the coming days, you will enter into a contract of some sort, after which you will return here. The coming year is a turning point in your destiny… If the mystery goes unsolved, your future may be forever lost."

"So if I don't solve this mystery I'm doomed?" asked the boy with incredulity. "Wow… that's morbid."

Yu thought about those words for a second. His whole life had been constantly on the move due to his parent's jobs. His father worked in Public Security Intelligence Agency and his mother worked in the Special Forces Group. He had always spent a year or so at one relative or another as such he didn't know his parents all that well. Though, on the rare occasions that he did see them, he had heard his mother and father usually talking about classified things, thus forcing him to, more often than not, be kept out of the room.

"But what kind of place is this? And why is there so much fog outside?" asked the confused boy, just noticing that the shadow of the girl and her eyes were now gone from the window.

"This is a realm that exists between mind and matter…" Igor waved his hand and the tarot card's deck slowly floated into the air. He waved his hands again and the seven cards on the table flew back to the deck, which then floated back to his hand. "It separates dreams from reality. Generally speaking, only those who have forged a contract are allowed to visit this room and perhaps, in the very near future, such a Fate may be awaiting for you as well."

"So this is a dream but not a dream?" Yu tilted his head in confusion, pondering the meaning behind those words.

"If you like." Margaret simply smiled. "Now, until our paths cross again. Farewell."

As Margaret said this, Yu's vision began to blur until the Velvet Room vanished entirely.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Yu woke up to find himself still on the train. He watched the scenery go by as the vehicle exited a tunnel. It was pretty clear by now that he was nowhere near the big city, which made him sigh with relief.

He closed his eyes to try and get some more rest, but was jolted awake when the train began coming to a stop. He stood up and quickly grabbed his bags from the shelf above his seat and got off the wagon.

His eyes curiously looked around the fairly old-looking platform.

"Final stop: Yasoinaba." came the announcement over the PA. "Yasoinaba Station."

Yu walked away from the platform, deep in thought, but was once again jolted as he bumped into an old foreign man and was sent falling to the ground. Luckily none of his belongings came out of his bag.

"Sorry about that kid" the old man 'apologized', with what looked like the hint of a smile on his face. "Here let me help you up."

The elderly man extended a helping hand, which Yu took and pulled himself up with. When he got to his feet, however, he felt like his head was on fire and clutched it in pain. The boy suddenly heard a male voice speaking in his mind.

It sounded strong and dutiful, making him think of a knight of old.

_I am Thou….Thou Art I…Open thine eyes…_

"Hey, Kid." the old man's voice got Yu's attention away from the voice. "Are you alright?"

For some reason, the silver-haired boy could almost swear that the old man was smirking slightly, but quickly dismissed it as his imagination.

"Er…yeah. Just a little dizzy I guess…"

"Well, I gotta get going now, and I bet you have too." the old man chuckled in a very strange way and began walking away. "Oh by the way, the name's Zelretch. Pleased to meet ya."

"I'm Yu. Yu Narukami" the boy introduced himself, for what he thought was the second time in less than an hour.

"Well, see you round Narukami." Zelretch chuckled again before walking away…and vanishing when he was out of sight. Yu stared at the spot where the old man had disappeared from his vision for a few seconds before leaving the station.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Eventually Yu had gotten outside the station and into the car park. In stark contrast to the train station, which had been slightly busy, the town was practically deserted. One could mistake it for being abandoned entirely if not for the fact that some of the windows still shone with signs of life.

"Where is everybody?" asked the boy to himself. "One would think that nobody even lives here…"

"Oh, there you are!" a middle aged man said, grabbing Yu's attention as he approached to the teenager, a shy-looking little girl attached to his arm. "You look better in person than you do in that picture. You're a whole lot bigger than the last time I saw you. You were just a little runt in diapers back then."

Yu let out an awkward laugh. Truthfully, he didn't remember that far back. Even so, he was getting a slight feeling of familiarity from this man.

"I guess I can't blame you for not remembering me." sighed the man while shaking his head. "Your mom hardly ever let you out of her sight. She was always so protective that I wonder what changed to make her able to let you out of her sight…" the man shook his head again, offering Yu an awkward smile. "Ah, well my name's Ryotaro Dojima. I'm your mother's younger brother and this here is my daughter Nanako"

Seeing that the boy's attention was on her, Nanako shyly hid behind her father.

"Go on, say Hi." Dojima encouraged his daughter, trying to get her to be polite.

"….erm…hello." Nanako mumbled before quickly retreating behind her father.

"What are you so shy for?" chuckled the man as his daughter gave him an angry kick in the leg. "OW! Well then… Let's get going. My car's over there."

Yu had just started following his uncle and cousin back to the car when he was stopped by a voice.

"…Hey." confused, the silver-haired teen turned around. There was a black-haired girl bend down, picking up a piece of paper off the ground. She stood up and held out the paper to Yu. "You dropped this."

"Oh…Thank you." nodded they boy in appreciation.

"Whatever." replied the girl, a hint of annoyance in her voice. "All I did was pick it up."

As he walked closer to the girl to receive the paper, Yu got a better look at the girl. She had grey eyes and wore a sleeveless white shirt, with a short black necktie and a checkered skirt. Along with this, she had on a black belt and a fancy, golden buckle that resembled a heart with wings. A pair of striped stockings with grey boots and choker with a lock on it completed the curious outfit.

She seemed around his age and looked rather unfriendly, but Yu had learnt long ago not to judge people by their appearance. Before he could say anything, though, the girl turned around and walked away.

Sighing, the boy followed his uncle back to his car, where he put his bags in the boot and got in the back seat while Nanako sat in the front seat with her father. They began driving into town and Yu's journey in Inaba began.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

A little while later, Dojima pulled into a gas station called Moel. The attendant, who had long, wavy gray hair, ran out to greet and assist them.

"Hi! Welcome to Moel!" the attendant greeted with an almost feminine voice, which, combined with 'his' looks, made hard to tell the worker's actual gender.

"Can you go to the bathroom by yourself?" asked Dojima while turning to Nanako, who had asked for that the moment they stopped.

"Uh-huh," the little girl answered before getting out of the car. She dubiously looked around, trying to locate the restroom.

"It's in the back, to your left." the attendant piped up helpfully, still grinning. "Do you know which way is left? The side you don't hold your chopsticks in."

"I know!" pouted Nanako with annoyed look "Geez…"

The girl looked back at her father once more before running of toward the station. Moments after, Yu opened his door and stepped out of the car.

"Are you taking a trip?" the attendant casually asked Dojima.

"No." the man shook his head and thumbed at Yu, who was silently staring at the main street. "We just went to pick him up from the train station. He just moved here from the big city."

"The city, huh…?" while saying that, the attendant looked curiously at the boy.

"Yeah…Fill up my car while you're at it." Dojima finally said. "Regular's fine."

"Right away, sir!" the attendant said cheerfully.

"Good time as any for a smoke…"

Yu watched his uncle walk off to the edge of the sidewalk. He really hadn't taken his uncle for a smoker, which was yet another reason not to judge people by their appearance.

"Are you in high school?"

Surprised, the teen turned to the gas station attendant, nodding silently in response.

"Does it surprise a city boy to see how little there is out here?" the attendant looked curiously at Yu, almost as if examining his face. "There's so little to do, so I'm sure you'll get bored fast. You'll either be hanging out with your friends or doing part-time jobs."

Yu wasn't actually paying attention to what the 'man' was saying, though. He was too busy trying to discern what the attendants' gender was.

"Hey, are you listening?" the attendant asked

"Huh?" dumbly muttered the boy, suddenly shaken out of his thoughts.

"I was just saying that we're looking for part-time help right now, here at Moel." the 'man' gently explained, raising his hand in Yu's direction. "Give it some thought, why don't you? We don't mind if you're a student."

"Sure, I'll give it some thought." replied the teen with a nod, shaking the attendants extended hand.

Nanako returned from using the restroom before Yu could think any more on why he couldn't read the attendant.

"Oh, I should get back to work!" the 'man' casually said, walking away quickly.

"Are you okay?" frowned Nanako while looking at her cousin. "Did you get carsick? You don't look too good…"

Yu swallowed as he suddenly felt extremely dizzy.

"Ngh…"

"What's wrong?" Dojima asked returning from his smoke break, frowning after taking one look at. "You okay?"

"I don't feel good…" murmured the boy while putting a hand on his forehead. "Must be the stress of the journey…"

Dojima sighed.

"Let's hurry home, then…"

While getting back into the car, Yu looked back at the gas station, he was still staring at it when they drove away.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Eventually, they arrived at the Dojima residence.

The house was a traditional, two-story one that was a deep chocolate brown in color. It seemed simple enough, but Yu didn't really mind. This was the place that would be his home for the year.

He'd heard that Dojima lived alone with his daughter after his wife died in an accident years ago, so the teen kind of expected the house to be a mess. He was shocked when he found that it was not.

'It's cleaner than I thought it would be' thought Yu while looking around in surprise. 'Uncle Dojima doesn't exactly seem like the kind of guy who can clean up after himself that well…'

After they went inside and putting his things into his new room, Yu found himself sitting at the table with sushi and soda for dinner. After a quick toast, the three started eating.

"So…your mom and dad are busy as always…" commented Dojima, looking at his nephew as if for confirmation. "They're working in the military, right?"

"Dad works with the Public Security Bureau while Mom's holds the rank Major in the Japanese Special Forces." Explained Yu to his uncle while nodding, taking a sip from his soda while doing so.

"Really? Woah, so she's a Major already, uh?" the man seemed lost in thought while slowly eating his food. "You know, it's hard to believe a woman like your mom would enter the military. She wasn't exactly what you'd call….disciplined when she was younger. She was a kind of a delinquent…to put it mildly, But then again she never did like conforming to people's expectations." Dojima sighed. "I know it's only for a year, but getting stuck in a place like this because of your parents…its rough being a kid."

For his part, the silver-haired boy was having a difficult time picturing his mother as a delinquent. She was a strict and fair disciplinarian, sure, but she also had a soft side that showed itself every once in a while.

"Well, it's just me and Nanako here, so it'll be nice having someone like you around." said the older man with a smile. "So as long as you're here, you're part of the family. Make yourself at home."

"Thank you for your kindness." warmly smiled Yu.

At that, Dojima chuckled.

"C'mon, there's no need to be so formal. Look, you're making Nanako all tense."

Having heard her name being called, the little girl turned red at realizing the attention was all on her. She quickly glared to her father and quickly tried her best to hide her red face.

"Well, anyway…let's eat."

Before they could do that, however, they heard the sound of a phone ringing.

"Ugh…who's calling at this hour?" Dojima pulled his cell phone from his pocket and answered. "Dojima speaking…"

The man stood up and walked away from Nanako and Yu, pacing near the door as he spoke.

"Yeah? I see…So where is it?"

…

…

"All right, I'm on my way." Dojima finally sighed and ended the call, putting the phone back in his pocket "Looks like I made the right choice to skip the booze…"

A confused Yu turned to Nanako, noticing that she looked depressed. It wasn't hard to tell that this was a regular thing. The girl was most likely lonely, having her Dad away on work most of the time and her mother dead.

"Sorry, but I gotta go take care of some business." Yu's uncle said apologetically. "I don't know until how late I'll be, so go ahead and eat without me. Nanako, you help him out, okay?"

Nanako nodded, her shoulders slumping slightly as her father walked toward the door. The sound of rain filled the house as the door was opened.

"Nanako, it's raining out, what did you do with the laundry?" echoed Dojima's voice from the entrance.

"I brought it in!" replied the girl in a simple tone.

"…Alright. Well, I'm off."

The door closed and after a few moments, Nanako and Yu heard a car drive away. The little girl sighed and turned on the television.

" _— with storm clouds moving in from the west, expect rain throughout the day tomorrow in most areas_."

Nanako looked back at her plate.

"Let's eat."

Out of nowhere, Yu had found himself alone with his cousin, who was looking rather downtrodden. He decided to try and break the awkward silence with conversation.

"What does your dad do?"

"He…investigates stuff." Nanako said sounding nervous. "Like crime scenes. My dad's a detective."

"And now for the local news. City council secretary Taro Namatame is under fire for an alleged relationship with a female reporter, Mayumi Yamano. His wife, enka ballad sensation Misuzu Hiiragi, revealed to this station that she will likely pursue damages. In response, Eye Television has decided to cancel all of announcer Yamano's televised appearances. Until allegations of an affair with Mr. Namatame are resolved, she'll remain off the air and out of the public eye."

"…This is boring." complained the little girl while making a face, quickly changing to another channel.

"At Junes, every day is Customer Appreciation Day! Come see for yourself, and get in touch with our products!" happily announced a cheerful voice from the Tv. "Every day's great at your Junes!"

"Every day's great at your Junes!" Nanako sung along with the advert, perking up as she did.

Yu was surprised at his cousin's sudden change of character. She became much happier quite fast.

"Aren't you going to eat?" inquired Nanako, her smile quickly vanishing.

"Yeah, sorry… I just spaced out." said the boy before beginning to eat.

Soon after he finished eating, Yu went straight up to his room. Feeling more than just tired, the boy went straight to sleep.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Fog was all Yu could see.

It obstructed his vision so much that he could barely see the ground he was standing on. Confused, the boy decided to move forward, hoping to find a way out of whatever that place was.

"Do you seek the truth?" a genderless voice asked, echoing from no particular direction in the fog.

The abrupt question caused Yu to stop in his tracks and look around, searching for the source of the voice. The fog obscured his vision and he could sense no one else's presence around or near him.

"I guess I have no choice but to move forward…" muttered the boy, cautiously continuing his trek through the thick fog.

"If it's truth what you desire, come and find me…" the voice said once again, sounding much closer.

It sounded almost like it was challenging Yu, or taunting him. He kept walking until he bumped into a black and red wall of some kind. No. It wasn't a wall. It was a strange door, made of an unknown and red material. Suddenly, he felt a weight in his hands and looked down to see that he was holding a katana in them somehow. This was definitely not one of his usual dreams.

Then as he put his hand on the door it opened.

"So…You are the one pursuing me…"

Yu could just barely see that there was someone ahead, hidden in the fog. He could see a figure, but could not make out any features that would distinguish its gender. The voice that it spoke with seemed to be gender neutral as well. His grip on the sword tightened as he took a step forward.

"Hmhmhm… Try all you like…"

Yu glared at the figure with annoyance, something inside of him stirring to life.

Before the boy knew what was happening, he was moving forward and slashing at the figure. He was rather surprised when he struck something, albeit lightly. The figure gave out a pained grunt, although it tried to conceal it. Yu took some small pleasure in the little victory.

"Hmm….It seems you can see a little, despite the fog…" the figure said with irritation at being struck.

The silver-haired teen was acting entirely on instinct when he felt something not like himself, a very different 'feeling', quickly pulling at it with all his might. When he did a blank tarot card not unlike the ones Igor possessed floated down into his hand. He crushed it and an armoured silhouette, little more than a shadow, appeared above him and slashed at the being in the fog.

It seemed prepared for an attack however, and didn't grunt in pain this time.

"I see… Indeed, you possess an interesting quality…" the figure said. "This is some very interesting information."

Growling, Yu tried again, and the silhouette rushed forward, slashing at the being again. The attack didn't even touch it.

"But… You will not catch me so easily… If what you seek is 'Truth', then your search will be even harder…"

The figure glowed and a soft, hissing sound filled the air. The fog grew thicker and soon, everything was engulfed within the fog. The shocked boy could no longer see anything…all he could see was white fog.

"What the hell?" Yu looked around, his grip on the Japanese sword tightening.

"Everyone sees what they want to… And the fog only deepens…"

With those final words, the being was gone. And slowly, the world around the teen started to vanish…

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

As Yu walked to class 2-2, which was to be his homeroom for the next school year, he could hear some conversations coming from inside the classroom and even saw a few people talking through the doors window. As it usual for any newcomer, he waited outside to be summoned by the teacher.

"Talk about bad luck… The homeroom teacher here is Morooka, isn't it?" a sitting student complained.

"Yeah, it's King Moron, alright…we get to enjoy his long-ass sermons every day for a whole year. Joy." his friend added to the complaint. A female student walked over to the two boys.

"Hey, you guys! I heard there's a transfer student from the city in this class."

"Huh? Really? A guy or a girl?" Yu decided to tune out that conversation and hone in on another one. This one involved a brown-haired girl in a green jacket and a boy with orange headphones looking worse for wear.

"…Huh? You look dead today." the green-wearing girl said almost with pity.

"Yeah, um… I don't wanna talk about it…" the headphone-wearing boy muttered, looking away from her.

"…What's with him?"

"Who knows?" another girl said.

Finally, the waiting teen saw the teacher motion for him to come in, so he opened the door and walked in, following after the man. He simply took up a piece of chalk and began writing his name in the blackboard.

"I'm Kinshiro Morooka, your homeroom teacher from today forward! First things first! Just because its spring doesn't mean you can swoon over each other like love-struck baboons! As long as I'm around, you students are going to be pure as the driven snow!" ranted the man with a very annoying voice, before turning his attention to Yu. "This kid here is our new transfer student. He got booted from our putrid down here to the boonies basically making him a fugitive. Come on, introduce yourself."

"Uh, hi, I'm Yu Naruka-"

"YOU WERE JUST OGLING THAT INNOCENT YOUNG GIRL BY THE WINDOW WEREN'T YOU?!" Morooka's sudden yell catching Yu off guard, almost making him jump in surprise. "YOUR NAME'S GOING DOWN ON MY ROTTEN LITTLE SHIT LIST! I DON'T KNOW WHAT KIND OF FILTHY INSTITUTION YOU COME FROM BUT DON'T DO THAT HERE!"

"Sir!" the green wearing girl suddenly interrupted. "There's empty seat here. Can he sit next to me?"

She motioned to an empty seat to her left. Morooka looked a bit put out at the notion that he couldn't rant a bit more.

"Yeah, sure…" growled the teacher before glaring at Yu again. "TAKE YOUR SEAT ALREADY!"

Quickly, the silver-haired teen sat down next to the girl in green and to the left of a short girl with blue hair.

"We call him King Moron." the green girl whispered to him. "He's horrible with everyone, so don't wo-"

"HEY SHUT IT YOU TWO!" yelled the aforementioned teacher.

With that, King Moron began his rant about how society had gone to hell and how things were better back in his day. Eventually when he realized he wasn't going to learn anything useful at all, Yu tuned him out.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/12 Tuesday, Yasogami High, Inaba]

Finally, school mercifully ended much to Yu's relief. He was surprised, though, when the blue haired girl to his left walked to his desk and walked up to him

"So you're the new student." she greeted with an expressionless tone.

"Yeah, I'm Yu Narukami." he greeted her.

"My name's Aika Nakamura." she gave quick polite bow. "It's nice to meet you"

"Ehm, yeah, likewise." replied the boy with a nod. "I-"

"Attention students! There has been an incident inside the school district. Police officers have been dispatched around the School Zone. Please stay calm and contact your parents or guardians as soon as possible, and quickly leave the school grounds. Do not disturb the police officers. Head directly home. I repeat…"

"Incident?!" a girl yelped.

"Something actually happened?" said girl's friend questioned her.

"C'mon! Let's go check it out!" the brown-haired girl from earlier suggested.

"Sorry I've gotta go home." Aika apologized. "I've got help out with deliveries at my family's restaurant. See you tomorrow."

"See you…" acknowledged the teen, watching her walk out of the classroom and vanish from sight.

Everyone stood up to leave the campus, Yu not being the exception. He was planning to make the trek home by himself when two girls stopped him. One of them was, once again, the green jacket-wearing girl from earlier, who stopped King Moron from ranting at him.

"Hey, are you going home by yourself?" said girl asked with a smile.

Before the boy could answer, though, she quickly kept talking.

"Would you mind walking with us? This thing sounds kinda freaky!"

"Yeah, sure." agreed Yu while taking his bag. It couldn't hurt to walk home with the two, he supposed.

"Thanks! Oh, I'm Chie Satonaka, by the way!" the girl introduced herself with a smile, before gesturing over to the girl in the red sweater. "And this is my friend Yukiko Amagi."

"Nice to meet you… I'm sorry for pestering you." Yukiko said apologetically

"Yukiko! C'mon, don't apologize like that. It makes me look like I got no upbringing." complained Chie with a loud voice. "This was just a good excuse to talk to him a bit…"

"Hey what's up Chie?" the clumsy student from before school cut in, showing a nervous and clearly fake smile. "Thanks I loved it, it was way cool!" he said before thrusting a DVD-case into Chie's hands and quickly tried to make a break for the door. "Well, see ya tomorrow!"

"Hold it right there!" suddenly yelled the girl, giving chase and kicking the student in the crotch, causing him to face-plant into the ground.

Yu was still looking at the whimpering boy with pity when Chie's voice boomed through the room.

"WHAT THE HELL?! IT'S CRACKED, YOU TOOL! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY TRIAL OF THE DRAGON?!" screamed the girl, looking at the now open DVD-case and seeing the cracked disc inside.

"…I think mine's cracked too… Critical hit to the nads…"

"A-Are you alright?" Yukiko asked

"Don't be nice to this jerk. Let him suffer." Chie scoffed before walking away. "Come on we're going home!"

They both left the classroom, with Yu quickly following suit. Before that, though, he took one last look at the downed student.

"I'll just… leave him be…" he muttered to himself before closing the classroom's door.

The three exited the school's front doors and were approaching the gate when Chie decided to strike up a conversation. The fog had finally cleared up.

"So, why are you here?" she promptly asked.

This was a pretty standard question that Yu got all the time.

"My parents are too busy with work, so I'm staying here with my uncle. My mom works in the Special Forces group and my dad works for some intelligence agency." he replied nonchalantly.

"Wow, cool! Your mom's a Special Force's agent and your dad's a spy?!" Chie looked at him impressed

"Well I'm not too sure about my dad, but because my parents are always busy with work I have to stay with one relative or another." Yu continued with a resigned sigh. "I'm only here for the year."

"Even so, their jobs do sound interesting, don't you think, Chie?" Yukiko added on, attempting to join in.

"Yeah, I guess. But you're only here for a year huh?" the outgoing girl sighed with disappointment "And only because of your parent's jobs! I thought that it'd be juicier than that…."

"Chie don't be rude." the red-wearing girl admonished her friend, while Yu simply shook his head.

Yukiko didn't notice a boy from a different school staring at her from the school gate.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Elsewhere, the crime scene was very busy with police officers and an ambulance, not that the ambulance was necessary or could even help at that point. The intersection was blocked off by yellow tape and officers were running around, looking for clues about what had happened earlier during the day. A stretcher with a body bag on top ran past Dojima. He motioned to stop the stretcher and slightly unzipped the bag. He checked the contents inside and nodded his head in confirmation.

A younger man, dressed in a suit with unruly black hair, also took a look at the contents before his face turned green, quickly proceeding to sprint towards a corner and regurgitate what most likely was his lunch.

"Dammit Adachi!" Dojima roared. "How long are you gonna act like a rookie? You wanna be put back on desk work?!"

The younger man stopped vomiting and looked up at his partner and superior, with an unsure smile.

"So-sorry, boss. I'm just not used to seeing- Ugh!" Adachi cut himself off again as he began heaving again. Shaking his head, the older detective looked up at a TV antenna, which was being examined by people from the crime lab. He let out a long sigh in frustration.

"What a grim sight…" he mused.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The Wizard Marshal Zelretch sat in his office back at the Clock Tower. According to his calculations it would be a year before he would send Luvia and Rin to collect the Class Cards from Fuyuki. But that was not what concerned him, what did was his visitor who took the form of a glowing blue butterfly which was resting on his desk.

"Everything's prepared." said the Sorcerer with an enigmatic look. "I've reconnected the power of the Persona potentials as well as the Wild Card from the Sea of Souls to the Throne of Heroes, just as a planned. Everything's in place."

"I assume that you did the same for Nyarlathotep's chosen for this round?" the butterfly asked.

"Yup." grinned Zelretch while crossing his hands. "The Heroic Spirit in question who has taken the place of his regular Persona should be equal an equal and fair opposite to the Wild Cards main Heroic Spirit Persona. I've also set the Holy Grail up just like you asked. Ol' Nyarlathotep won't know what hit him by the time this is over."

"Very good. I knew I could rely on you old friend." the 'butterfly' said.

"So, when the one behind the fog and the Midnight Channel in Inaba is defeated, she'll become the sacrifice to power THIS Holy Grail instead of the Servants… Isn't that right, Philemon?" asked the master of the Second Magic, stroking his beard thoughtfully

"Yes. But I must admit that I'm curious…how will you secure the co-operation of the Heroic Spirits in this endeavour?" Philemon asked fluttering his wings for a moment

"The same way for why they co-operated for the original Grail Wars." Zelretch chuckled. "They've all been promised a wish in return for their co-operation. I'll use the Second Magic to tap into Alternate Holy Grails and everyone's happy!"

"What about those who have no wish?" Philemon asked. "I know for a fact just WHO you chose for Yu Narukami's World Arcana. Even before actually unlocking the World that Heroic Spirit's ego will overpower the boy's own, it is inevitable."

"Yeah, it's always a gamble with 'Goldie', but we're talking about fighting a God and sacrificing it to power the Grail in order to make a wish that will alter humanity." The Wizard Marshall put an unusually serious look on his face as he looked at the blue butterfly. "We need all the help we can get. Plus he's not too fond of Gods, so he might help on principle."

"For now we must hope your gamble pays off." Philemon sighed, somehow doing it even though he was in the form of a butterfly. "I will make sure Margaret points Narukami in the right direction when the time to make the wish comes…"

"Sounds like a plan." Zelretch grinned cheerfully.

"The Heroic Spirits in question are as close to the true inner selves of the potentials as possible aren't they?" Philemon asked. "After all, the Heroic Spirits will be Personas instead of Servants, and we have no Command Seals, so the possibility of some of them killing their controller is high."

"True, but unlike Servants they won't be able to linger around if they do that." Zeltrech explained "If their controller dies they immediately go back to the Throne and lose their opportunity to get their wish. No cheats or manipulation will be allowed as long as they share the soul of those kids. The modified Grail should supply them this basic information. Are all your concerns rested now?"

"For now, they are. Do try to make sure no one interferes with this venture." Philemon said seriously before taking off. ""We don't need anyone unscrupulous finding out what we're doing in Inaba. Least of all anyone interested in the Holy Grail."

"Relax, I'll take care of that." Zelretch waved the concerns aside as the butterfly began to fly away. "I'll make sure that everyone knows that Inaba it's off limits… Oh, and you are aware of what will happen if Narukami and his friends CAN'T win this right?"

"I am quite aware." Philemon muttered darkly with a heavy heart. "In order to grant the wish that 'She' believes humanity wants… The Wild Card and his friends will become the sacrifices used to power the Holy Grail, in the absence of Servants in a regular Grail War."

"Either the Wild Card and his friends will be sacrificed, or she will." The Sorcerer seemed lost in thought. "A dangerous gamble."

"I don't like it but we have no choice." the butterfly vanished in the sky, leaving only blue sparks on its trail. "This is only way."


	2. Beyond

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or Fate or anything in the Nasuverse, any resemblance to any other Persona 4/Fate fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames, please, constructive criticism only.  
>  Special thanks to SaintInfernalNeos for helping me with this story and Lost Idea Alchemist who helped edit the later chapters.  
> Just an FYI there will be no Persona evolution in this fic, but me and SaintInfernalNeos have come up with ideas that we hope compensate for this. ******  
>  [-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/13 Wednesday, path to Yasogami High, Inaba]

The next day, Yu Narukami was calmly walking to school, lost in thoughts about the strange dream he had last night…until he heard the screaming voice of the boy who Chie had kicked yesterday.

"Watch out!"

As if on cue, the boy sped past him, lost control and, by some twisted combination of bad luck, ended head first into the trash can.

"So-someone, help! Get me outta here!" pleaded the boy while twisting around inside the garbage can.

Unlike the day before, when had had seem the absurd scene also happen in the morning, the silver-haired boy decided help and quickly pulled him out of his smelly prison.

"Uff…thanks man, you're a lifesaver!" thankfully grinned Yosuke once he was back on his feet. "You're Yu Narukami, right?"

The boy in question simply nodded as answer.

"I'm Yosuke Hanamura!" the boy introduced himself.

"Uhm, pleased to meet you." greeted Yu with an awkward smile.

"Hey, do you know what this towns famous for?" suddenly commented the headphones-wearing boy, catching the other teen off guard. "We do some seriously good beefsteak! I know its kinda lame, but it's fitting for this place, and since you just helped me out… how about you let me treat ya to some?"

"No thanks, I'm good…" tried to decline the boy as politely as possible.

"Come on, I insist!" continued the determined Yosuke. "You free later today? Heh, of course you are, you're new here! Hey, don't worry; I went through this once too, you know? And also…!"

"You can count me in on that action." abruptly interrupted Chie's voice, making both boys turn around to see the grinning girl, her broken 'Trial of the Dragon' DVD in her hand. "Consider it a way for you to pay me back for breaking my stuff."

Yu could easily tell by the way Yosuke seemed to deflate at the words that the other teen really didn't want to have to pay for an extra meal. Eventually, the three got to the school and Yosuke changed into a better smelling uniform during lunchtime. After King Moron's final lecture of the day, the bell rang and school ended.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Later on, at the Junes food court, one could easily notice that Chie Satonaka was not happy.

"Hey, this isn't steak!" angrily protested the kung-fu loving girl. "You stingy tightwad, this isn't beefsteak, it's just some lousy cheap meat!"

"Yeah, well, once you hopped on the freeloader train, I had to change my plans…" sighed Yosuke while trying to not look at the girl. " Now eat your food before it gets cold."

Yu was only half listened as the conversation became animated over small talk. Idly, he turned to look at one of the exposed TVs in one of the food stands, just as the news came on.

"According to the latest reports, the body found yesterday identified as our local TV reporter: Twenty-seven years old, Mayumi Yamano."

"Hey, wasn't this on the news yesterday too?" curiously asked Chie as she also turned to look at the screen.

"Yeah, its freaky how that shit happened all the way out here…" muttered Yosuke while swallowing the spicy meal he'd put into his mouth. " The murderer could live just next door!"

"Please don't go there, it creeps me out." shivered the girl with a worried frown.

"Heh, I'm just messin with ya!"

"Yeah, well, I think we need to change the subject." quickly said Chie before her face lit up with an idea. "Hey, I know what! Have you heard about that Midnight Channel thing that's got everybody talking?"

"Midnight Channel?" asked Yu with a raised eyebrow. "What's that supposed to be?"

"Oh yeah!" muttered Yosuke while scooting closer to Chie. "Aren't they saying that it only comes on at midnight on a rainy day?"

"Yeah, and they say whoever shows up on the screen is supposed to be your soulmate!" explained the girl with an excited grin. "So, I heard it's going to rain tonight… waddya say if we check it out?"

"I'm amazed that you actually can STILL fall for that ridiculous kiddy crap." sighed the brown-haired boy.

"Waddya mean kiddy crap?!" demanded Chie, sending a death-glare at Yosuke

"You see? Now THIS is why you can't ever nab a boyfrien-"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" the angry yell of the girl came accompanied by Yosuke being shaken around like a can of soda.

After a few seconds of being shaken like an idiot, Yosuke's eyes abruptly opened and stood up, breaking free of Chie's grip as his face illuminated.

"Hey...It's Saki-sempai!"

The excited boy quickly rushed over towards a tired-looking girl with long brown hair showed up, wearing a Junes apron.

"Oh…hey there Hana-chan." she greeted

"That's Saki Konishi, a third-year in our school. I like the girl, she's cool and she's really pretty." commented Chie, the hint of a smile on her lips. "Her family runs the liquor store in the shopping district…I think she's working here part time, though."

If June's presence was having a negative effect on the shopping district like Chie said, then Saki's parents probably weren't happy that she had this job. When Yu took a good look at the older girl, he could see a hint of annoyance in her eyes as Yosuke kept speaking to her.

"Did you think she was his girlfriend or something?" Chie chuckled, as if amused by the idea. "He'd be happy if she was, but apparently they just work together here at Junes."

"You there!" the aforementioned girl suddenly called out to Yu, making the boy blink. "You're the new transfer student, right?"

"Yeah…" nodded the silver-haired boy while looking silently at her.

"This guy doesn't have a whole lot of friends." Saki thumbed at Yosuke while saying that, making the boy blanch at the comment, "I mean, he's not bad he's actually pretty nice, but if he starts bugging you just let me know."

"Er….it's not that…he just…" Yu wasn't sure of how to respond to the 'offer' without offending either of them.

"Heh, I'm just joking around, don't worry!" smiled the older girl with a chuckle, but the teen got the impression that she may not have been joking.

"Saki, that really wasn't funny at all!" complained Yosuke, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Oh, don't worry about it…Well, I think I'd better be taking off now, so see you later!" and after waving at them one last time, the smiling girl walked away.

"Wait, Saki-sempai, about that thing I-!"

"Oh yeah, sounds fun." even as she said that, the older girl didn't stop walking away. "We can make plans during my next break, ok?"

"BOOYAH!" joyfully screamed Yosuke, almost jumping from the excitement.

"What's got you all excited?" Chie's teasing tone seemed to bring the boy down back to Earth, but it didn't seem to affect his good mood in the slightest.

Quickly, Yosuke turned to her and showed a pair of movie tickets, wearing a big grin on his face.

"Oh, now I see where you're coming from…" chuckled the girl with teasing smile.

For his part, Yu ignored his classmates and silently stared after Saki. He could help but get the feeling that something was wrong with her…

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

That night, true to Chie's word, it rained. Yu had decided out of curiosity to see if this 'Midnight Channel' was legitimate or not so the TV was unplugged and the silent room was totally dark.

It was almost Midnight.

"Yeah, right. As if." dismissively muttered the teen after a few seconds of staring at the darkened screen.

Then, the clock struck 12.

The TV flashed to life and, before Yu's astonished eyes, the unclear image of a girl with long hair appeared on the screen, blurred and covered by static. The shocked boy noted she that vaguely resembled Saki Konishi, even though the image was pretty distorted.

For some reason, Yu moved toward the TV as if in a trance. He heard a strange voice in his head, which suddenly felt as though it was splitting open…

_I am thou… and thou art I… You shall open the door…_

The mesmerized boy staggered towards the TV and reached out towards it. And when he touched the screen…his hand passed through it as if the screen was a pool of water.

Out of nowhere, he felt something strong attempting to drag him in, breaking his trance and making the boy start to try and pull away. He put his foot on the TV stand and pushed with all his might, eventually freeing himself and smashing his head against the table behind him.

He was still trying to recover from the mix of pain and shock when there was a knock at the door.

"Hey, are you okay?" Nanako's voice asked from the outside.

"Ye-yeah, I just tripped and smashed my head. Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

Seemingly satisfied with his answer, the little girl went back to her room. Yu, for his part thought that the lie was for the best.

After all why would she believe that his hand went through the TV screen?

"What in the hell was that…?" the boy asked himself as he stared at the TV screen in total disbelief.

And outside, the heavy rain keep falling.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/14 Thursday, Junes Electronics Department, Inaba]

The next day, one could see that Yu Narukami was annoyed.

The reason was that that Yosuke and Chie, the two people he'd met and made friends with hadn't believe him when he told them earlier, when school had ended, about how his hand got stuck inside the TV when he was seeing the Midnight Channel last night.

And now, they were in Junes, standing in front of a massive TV, and Chie and Yosuke continued to tease Yu about it, touching the screen themselves and saying how it was a solid with a laugh.

"Ah…man, I can't believe we're seriously doing this…" sighed Yosuke while shaking his head.

"Hey, why not?" asked a grinning Chie, who still seemed amused by the whole deal. "My family's wanted a new TV anyway… Maybe you can use your connections and cut me a deal!"

"Of course I can't!" denied the boy before turning towards the eyebrow-raised Yu and explaining. "You see, my dad happens to be the manager of this store. Just like you, I also transferred to this town from Tokyo. I guess almost six months ago…"

"Oh, really?" asked the boy with a curious tone.

"Junes does make life easier, but all the mom and pop shops and are pretty empty now" commented Chie while shaking her head.

"Hey, don't say that straight to my face!" protested Yosuke with annoyance.

"Would you rather prefer that I said it behind your back?" retorted the girl with an almost challenging expression.

While the two of them kept arguing, Yu looked at the news report on the TV. They were interviewing the student that found Mayumi Yamano's body. The boy's eye's widened when he realized that she resembled the girl he saw on the Midnight Channel last night.

"Oh, I guess that girl kind of look like Saki, doesn't she?" commented Chie while also looking at the screen. "Everyone in class is talking about it; they all think that Saki is the one they were interviewing there about the body."

"For real?" asked a surprised Yosuke. "That explains why she skipped school today…"

While his two friends kept talking about Saki, Yu decided to try again. Determined, he reached out towards the TV and then…his hand slipped through the screen as it rippled like water.

His hand was inside, but it wasn't trying to pull him in like before. A grin formed on his face. He wasn't crazy, after all.

And the other teens had just noticed it, too.

"Who-whoa! Yo-your hand went right in!" cried Chie.

"Du-Dude, how are you pullin this off?!" panicked Yosuke with wide eyes.

Yu's response was just a shrug of his shoulders.

"Wo-woah… that's kinda awesome…" muttered green-wearing girl while looking closer.

"I think I can go further in…" muttered the silver-haired teen while inching closer to the screen.

"OOH, this is gonna make me piss myself!" yelled Yosuke as his bladder began acting up.

"Hold it, will ya!" yelled Chie with an angry panic. "Thi-this is serious!"

And then, Yu crawled halfway INTO the TV

"…It's very spacious in here." he nonchalantly told them.

While the headphones-wearing boy kept fidgeting because of his bladder issue, the girl of the group tried to pull at him to calm him down. This, in turn, made him try to resist for a few seconds… before he gave way and made them both collide with the amazed Yu, causing that the three screaming teens fell completely into the TV.

It then stopped shimmering, as if the three of them were never there.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The three teens found themselves falling through what seemed like a white tunnel with black squares, almost like TV screens twisting in a Counter-clockwise pattern. Eventually the screens all lined up and they 'landed'.

Yosuke fell on his backside, Chie landed on her feet but rolled forward to deal with the impact and Yu managed to, somehow, land in a crouching position.

"Ugh, my head…wa-wait, where are we?" asked a confused Chie while looking around at their surroundings

"I believe… that we're inside the Television." calmly stated Yu, as if he was just talking about the weather.

Indeed, it certainly 'seemed' like they were. They appeared to be on a TV set, with lights above and concentric circles on the ground… that had outlines of bodies like what one would see in a crime scene.

"What?!" Chie's yell seemed to echo inside that eerie place. "Don't just stand there given me crazy talk, I'm being serious!"

"Aww man, this hurts too much to be re…al" whined Yosuke while clutching his pained behind. "I think I busted my ass or something…"

"Woah, I'm so surprised." Sarcastically commented the silver-haired teen while trying to see through their foggy surroundings.

"How'd we even get in here, anyway?" asked the girl of the group while looking around. "I can't see an entrance anywhere…"

"Yeah, I can't see a damn thing through this fog…" commented Yu with a confused frown.

"So… what do we do now?!" asked the panicked Yosuke while running up to Chie.

"What are you asking me for?!" retorted an equally distressed Chie. "I-I don't know all I want to do is go home, like, immediately!"

Suddenly, the sound of strange footsteps drew the panicking teen's attention, making they all turn around, to see how, standing inside the eerie fog, the shadow of some sort of bipedal creature was staring at them.

"Wha-what the hell is that?!" screamed a panicking Chie.

Instead of answering Yosuke turned and ran while screaming, with the other 2 quickly following cue. After a few minutes of running, they found themselves what seemed like a building's eerie room. Inside, they saw something that seems like blood dripping on the floor from the walls and, to make things even creepier, several posters of a woman with her face torn off.

"Finally…it took us forever to ditch that weirdo…thing…whatever…" panted a tired Chie, apparently not having noticed their surroundings.

Almost in the centre of the room, there was also chair, with a red scarf over it…and tied as a noose to the ceiling. When he saw this Yu couldn't keep silent any longer.

"Where…where are we?" he nervously asked, making his two friends finally notice the room.

Yosuke gasped and took a few steps back when he saw the noose.

"What the hell?!" jumped Chie with wide eyes. "God…this place is messed up!"

The silver-haired teen took a look at one of the torn posters, swearing that it looked familiar, but being unable to remember from where…

"Oh, I can't take it anymore!" cried the other boy of the group with a desperate voice.

"What?! What is it?!" asked a scared Chie while turning to face Yosuke.

"I have to go!" yelled the boy before running towards a corner of the room.

"Hey, you can't pee here, this is someone's room!" protested the girl with angry/embarrassed look. "Narukami, will you please stop him?!"

"Why would I do that?"

Chie froze in confusion upon hearing that answer.

"Ugh, I can't go with you two standing there!" yelled the other boy before zipping his pants again. "Ah man. If I get a bladder infection it will be all your fault!"

"Who the hell cares?" shouted Chie while standing up "Let's just get out of this place already!"

"I'd love to… but how?" worriedly muttered Yosuke.

"Ehm, for now let's try going back to where we came in, okay?" suggested Yu with a heavy sigh. This day was turning weirder by the second.

With some small difficulties, they group made their way back to their landing spot. When they did, though, they found the strange creature from earlier standing there, waiting for them. It was a… red and blue half-clown, half-bear mascot suit.

Chie seemed ready to threaten it, now that she saw that the thing wasn't scary at all, but Yu decided on a different approach the moment it started cowering under the girl's sudden yell.

"What… is that thing?" asked Yosuke with a raised eyebrow.

"I could ask you the same thing!" answered the 'bear', one of his 'paws' pointed at the group with an expression of anger.

"It can talk?!" gasped the girl, an astonished expression on her face.

"Of course I can! I am a bear!" the creature said as if it was obvious. "Geeze, I've also lived here since bear-ever!"

"What is up with this guy?" loudly asked the brown-haired boy. "He's, like, beyond creepy!"

"Please, keep your voices down, will ya?" exclaimed the bear while covering his head in alarm "Now go on and get out here, run along and get back to your den!"

"What are you exactly?" asked Yu while staring at the being up and down.

The bear stopped looked at the silver-haired teen with wide eyes.

"I already told you, I'm a bear! Can't you tell?" suddenly, the creature looked around, as if lost in thought, before changing the subject. "I live here by myself. I've always lived here. It doesn't have a name…"

"You…live here?" a surprised Yosuke asked.

"If I was you guys, I'd hurry back to the other side." the bear looked around, it's ears twitching. "Everything it's a big headache here now that someone has been throwing people in…"

"Throwing people in? What're you talking about?" questioned the headphone-wearing boy, a confused expression on his face.

"I dunno who's doing it! I just want them to think before they go doing things like that!" scowled the bear while angrily stomping at the ground.

"Hey, what's your problem?!" once again, Chie's yell caused the bear to cower. "What gives YOU the right to yell at us like that?!"

Yu sighed internally as the bear ran behind him, likely because he was the only one being 'nice' to him…or not being openly hostile/dismissing, at least.

" A-Anyways, you guys should hurry back." the bear said nervously, cowering behind the silver-haired boy.

"What it comes down to is that you want us to get outta here, right? Well, so do us! We just don't know how, dammit!" cursed Yosuke while crossing his arms.

"Urrrrgh! Tha-that's why I'm saying I'll let you out!" growled the strange bear, once again stomping with his foot and apparently regaining his courage.

"Like I keep saying, we don't know where the fricken' exit—wait, what?" the boy stopped and looked questioningly at the bear. "You can get us out?!"

For all answer, the bear tapped his foot at the ground, making a stack of 3 old-style TVs to appear in a puff of smoke.

"Woah! What the hell?!" shouted an amazed Chie.

"Now, get going!" exclaimed the bear before running behind the teens and starting to shove them towards the TVs with a sudden burst of strength.

"He-hey, quit shoving!" complained Yosuke before the 3 seemed to go through the mass of TVs, screaming in surprise even as the bear nodded with satisfaction.

Then, the stack of TVs vanished in another puff of smoke.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After floating through the white space and backwards through the TV screens again, the three teens found themselves flying out of the TV and back into Junes electronics department. Yu landed on his hands and knees while Chie landed on top of Yosuke.

"We made it back." stated the silver-haired boy with relief.

In response, his two friends hugged each other in overjoyed relief…before Chie came to her senses and kneed Yosuke in the stomach.

"Don't take advantage of the situation, you big perv!" yelled the girl with indignation.

Before the pained boy could retort, though, an announcement came over the PA.

Attention, shoppers. Our daily limited-time sale will now begin at the side dish area on the first floor. Why not try the delicious, fresh products that Junes picked for you this morning as your side dish for dinner tonight? All ages are invited to take advantage of this incredible bargain!

"Crap, it's already that late?!" panicked Yosuke.

"Looks like we were in there for quite a while..." commented Chie before noticing how their newest friend had walked a little away from them. "Hey what is it?"

For his part, Yu's attention was fixed on a poster on the wall. It was one with the face of the enka singer, Misuzu Hiiragi.

"I saw this poster back there, in that weird room…"

Chie blinked, quickly walking over to get a closer look at the poster.

"Yeah, that's Misuzu Hiiragi… isn't she the woman that's been all over the news these days?" the brow-haired girl seemed deep in thought. "They say that her hubby had an affair with that reporter who just died, Mayumi Yamano…"

"Wait, what does that even mean...?" worriedly asked Yosuke. "How could she have anything to do with that freaky room?"

"Maybe there's a connection between that place and Ms. Yamano's death?" suggested the tallest member of the group.

"Stop! Don't go there!" yelled the other boy, waving his hands around in panic. "I don't think my heart can take it…! Ah, crap this is bad; I still gotta take a leak!"

"This whole thing is starting to give me the chills…" complained Chie while rubbing her temples. "I'm feeling kind of woozy… I think I'm heading home to sleep…"

"Yeah, sure. I think that will be the best for all of us." silently nodded Yu, giving the poster one last glance before heading back home himself.

He had a lot to think about tonight.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/15 Friday, Yasogami High, Inaba]

"I'm just saying… I feel as if I went through hell yesterday…" complained Chie as she walked to school with Yukiko.

"What do you mean?" asked her best friend with a confused expression.

"I'll…tell you about it later." replied the kung-fu-loving girl while shaking her head. "There's a chance you won't even believe me…."

"Hey… Yukiko?" someone suddenly asked.

The voice belonged to a male student from another school. He was drenched due to having been standing out in the rain without an umbrella. Messy black hair and a mole under his left eye seemed to be what characterized him. A creepy smile was on the boy's face even as he stared at them with his black eyes.

"Huh?" both girls stopped walking, looking confusedly at the boy.

"I've been waiting all morning, Yukiko…"

The male student walked closer, blocking the two's way into school.

"Uhm… who are you?" nervously asked Yukiko, who was getting nervous under the strange boy's intimidating stare.

"C'mon…why don't you and I go hang out somewhere?" suggested the boy with an eerie tone.

"E-eh…?" the long-haired girl's eyes widened even as she took a fearful step back.

"Hey, back off, you're being a freak!" yelled an annoyed Chie, but the boy ignored her and walked closer to Yukiko.

"Come on…let's go, Yukiko!"

"What school is that creep from? Doesn't he know that Yukiko is off limits?" one of the students commented while walking into the school.

"Hey you." the strange boy froze, turning his head around to see Yu's form standing just behind him. "Stop harassing her."

"What the…?! Where did you come from?!" even as the boy shouted this, Chie and Yukiko also blinked in shocked surprise.

Neither had noticed the silver-haired boy's presence either.

"I have been here for a while. Now, will you please leave my friends alone?"

The boy eerie didn't know exactly what, but there was SOMETHING in Yu's eyes that seemed to contain an unspoken threat if he refused.

"…so…are you coming or not Yukiko?" the mysterious student tried his luck one more time, turning around to not keep staring at the boy behind him.

"Sorry, but I'm not going." Spoke Yukiko with a tone of finality.

"Ugh, fine then!" growled the boy before running away. "Stupid bitch…"

"…what did that guy want from me?" muttered the red-wearing girl with confusion.

"You really don't know?" asked an exasperated Chie with a sigh. "He wanted a date!"

"What? Are you sure?" Yukiko seemed genuinely surprised by that revelation.

"You REALLY couldn't tell, right?" sighed the brown-haired girl before guiding her best friend back towards the school.

All the while, Yu never stopped staring the way the strange boy had run off to.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Later, during lunchtime, the group talked about the curious events of the morning.

"You know, you can be totally harsh sometimes." commented Yosuke, having just heard about the whole thing, while shaking his head. "You cut me down cold like that as well last year."

"I wonder why?" deadpanned Yu.

"N-no, I didn't!" denied a panicking Yukiko

"Does that mean you do want to go out with me?!" hopefully asked Yosuke.

"I'd prefer not to." instantly replied the long-haired girl, shooting him down.

"Because I suck, right?" groaned the boy before his face brightened. "Well, it doesn't matter, 'cause I already have my sights set on somebody else!"

"Let me guess, it's Saki right?" guessed Yu with the hint of a smile.

"Yep!" smirked the headphone-wearing boy. "Although… she's been blowing off every text I've sent her since yesterday…I wonder if she's sick or something like…"

The sudden sound of sirens echoing through the area caught their ears, making all the students look towards the windows.

"Oh, geeze..." groaned Yosuke.

"Another accident?" wondered Yu, even as an uneasy feeling started to claw at his chest…

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Not long after Lunch ended, the staff gathered all the students into the auditorium, all of whom were very talkative most, though most of them were just gossiping. Yu paid them little mind while he looked straight at the front, the uneasy feeling of before still echoing on his mind.

"Hey, where's Yukiko?" asked Yosuke at noticing the girl's absence.

"She just sent a text. She got a call from her family." Chie explained with a sigh. "They needed her help at the inn."

"Help at the inn?"

"Oh yeah, her family owns the nicest traditional inn in town." grinned the girl, though the silver-haired boy felt something strained in her smile. "Yukiko is going to own it and run it someday!"

"Come on, text back already…" grumbled the other boy of the group while fiddling with his phone "She still hasn't responded…"

"Hey!" King Moron suddenly bellowed, catching everyone's attention. "The principal has something to say, so shut and pay attention! Make so much as a peep and you're going down on my rotten little shit list! Consider yourselves warned."

With that, the annoying teacher walked off to the side, allowing the principal to take the centre of the stage.

Yu knew something was really wrong at noticing the elderly man's grievous expression.

"Sorry everyone, but I fear I'm the bearer of bad news." spoke the principal with a solemn tone. "One of our own students…was found dead near the school's zone. Saki Konishi from 3-B."

The moment the words left his lips, the student body broke into frightened murmurs.

"Please, remain calm." implored the elderly man. "The police is still investigating the case, so if any officer approaches you during the day, we urge you to answer truthfully to any of their questions of…"

Yu tuned the rest of the man's speech out, even as his eyes fell over the frozen form of Yosuke.

Thing had gone worse than he had thought.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After school ended, Yu and Chie found the depressed headphones-wearing boy in one of the outer hallways, looking down at the ground in sorrow.

"They say her body was hung like Ms. Yamano's, but it was a telephone pole this time…" one of the passing students whispered to another, making the boy tremble and contain a sob.

"Yosuke..." whispered the brown-haired girl while trying to get near him.

"…did you guys watch the Midnight Channel last night?" the boy's sudden question seemed to stop Chie in her tracks.

"You…wanna talk about that now?!" the girl couldn't help but growl.

"Just shut up and let me finish, will ya?!" the burning anger in Yosuke's tone silenced the shocked girl, even as Yu looked at him with serious eyes. "Something was bothering me, so I watched it again last night…and I think I saw Saki on it."

Chie's eyes widened in shock even as the silver-haired boy crossed his arms in deep thought, both of them exchanging a worried glance.

"Don't you remember?" asked the boy in an almost desperate voice. "One of our classmates claimed that Ms. Yamano was his soul mate because he said that he SAW her on the Midnight Channel too!"

"Oh yeah, I… remember that." muttered Chie with a hint of uneasiness.

"And I heard that Saki vanished just before her attack, just like Ms. Yamano… That can't be a coincidence." insisted Yosuke with determined eyes.

"Wait, you don't think that..."

"You're saying that whoever gets shown on that channel ends up dead?" deduced Yu while a cold feeling set up in his stomach once again.

"We all saw those Misuzu Hiiragi's posters when we were inside the TV!" the heir of Junes walked pass them with nervous steps. "What if those were there because Ms. Yamano WAS there before dying?"

"You think that the TV world is connected to the murders?"

"If we somehow made our way into that world maybe Saki and Ms. Yamano found a way in as well!"

By the tone of voice of his new friend, Yu could already say that things were going to get complicated. He just didn't know HOW much right he was…

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Yosuke this is crazy!" protested Chie some time later, the three friends standing in front of the same TV of Junes's Electronics Department. "You're NOT serious!"

"We've already escaped once before." the boy pointed out while preparing the 'security line' he had brought. "And if we go in from the same entrance then, maybe we'll find that freaky bear again!"

"There's no way you can know this for sure!" snapped the girl with an angry glare.

"Hold on. I'll come too" Chie turned around with shocked eyes at hearing Yu's sudden declaration

"What?!"

"For real?" asked Yosuke, relief clear on his eyes. "Thanks man! I could really use your help."

'Who knows what will happen to him if he goes alone?' were Yu's thoughts even as he neared the boy with a sigh

"Chie, I'm leaving you in charge of this." declared the boy while handing her the end of the rope tied around his waist. "This way, we will be able to return even if we get lost!"

"Wait! Are you serious about this?!"

"Don't worry so much." said Yosuke while waving her worries off. "So, are you ready for this?"

"Yeah. As well as anyone can be." Muttered Yu before touching the screen.

"Hey! Wait a sec" sadly; Chie's plea was ignored as the two entered into the TV.

Barely two seconds after they entered, the rope went slack, completely cut off from the two, and the terrified girl fell to her knees, letting go of the useless thing.

"I knew it!" cried Chie before grabbing her head with both hands "I knew this was never gonna work! Now what do I do?!"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After another journey through black outlines of TV screens, the two boys themselves back in the TV world and back to a painful crash with the ground.

"Damn, that hurt!" complained Yosuke while Yu stood back up, looking at the familiar and eerie place with studying eyes.

"Hey, it's you two again!" the silver-haired boy's eyes trailed the familiar voice until he saw the same bear of before running at them, an angry expression on its 'face'. "Why did you come back here?!"

"It really is the same place as last time…" observed the headphones-wearing boy, ignoring the bear's question.

"Hmm…You two are bear-y suspicious!" declared the bear while pointing at them.

"Huh?"

"Lately, I can tell someone's been throwing people in here before the fog clears up…" continued the bear, walking with his hands crossed on his back.

"When does it clear?" asked Yu with a serious expression.

"Uh? Hmm, well, I know that if it's foggy on your side, the fog lifts here…." answered the talking bear with a confused expression.

"I see…" the boy turned to looks seriously at his friend. "On the day each of those incidents occurred, there was a lot of fog covering the town." Yosuke's eyes widened at that.

"Then, do you think that…?!"

"The two of you have figured out a way to come here on your own!" the bear's sudden outburst interrupted the boy's conversation, making them look at it in surprise. "So YOU must be the one's throwing people in! You two are the culprits!"

"What the hell are you saying?!" roared the headphones-wearing boy in outrage. "That's crazy!"

"Someone has been throwing people here…" mused Yu while ignoring the current argument. "Could it be...that Saki and Ms. Yamano were thrown into this world?"

"Obviously, you guys did it! Just admit it!"

"What?! Yeah, right, and how do we know that YOU didn't do it?!" demanded Yosuke before marching up to the bear and quickly start tugging at his head. "Take off that stupid costume and show us your face!"

"He-hey, stop it! My head!"

"Take…it…off!" the boy gave one last tug and the head of the 'costume' came off…which immediately caused Yosuke to leap back in fear. "Wh-What the hell?!"

"There's nothing inside." stated Yu, looking at the unnerving DARKNESS that existed inside the now headless and STILL MOVING 'bear-costume'.

"I-it's empty! What's up with that?!" demanded an almost hysteric Yosuke, even as the other boy grabbed the head from the ground and took it towards the headless body.

"Thank you bear-y much!" thanked the bear after getting its head back, smiling widely at the teen.

"…dude, does anything rattle you?" deadpanned the other boy even as Yu simply shrugged.

"Okay, I'll believe that you guys aren't the culprits…" conceded the bear.

"That was quick!" pointed a surprised Yosuke.

"But I want you to find the real guy who did all this!" pleaded the creature with a sad face. "You have to stop him!"

"The culprit?" asked the silver-haired boy with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes…I just want to live here in peace, and I can't do it if people keep being thrown inside…" the bear actually looked incredibly sad when saying that.

"Is this thing for real?" sighed an annoyed Yosuke.

"Yo-you're the only ones who can do this!" once again pleaded the bear, dangerously close to the range of 'pathetically'. "D-do you promise, then?"

"Why do we have to when you…?"

"Okay." quickly agreed Yu, cutting his surprised friend mid-word.

"What?!" Yosuke yelled "No way! You're going along with it?!"

"Well, I feel sort of sorry for the little guy…" confessed the other teen while scratching the back of his head.

"Yay!" cheered the bear, almost dancing around in happiness.

"You're being way too nice." sighed the headphones-wearing boy while resigning himself. "Okay, fine. You better help us out then, stupid bear!"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After some talk about the current situation, the bear lead them to what looked to be a warped version of the shopping district, introducing itself as Teddie as it did so. It had also given Yosuke and Yu a pair of special glasses to see through the fog.

Both boys were making a serious effort to not try to think from where he had gotten them.

"What the hell is this place…?" muttered Yosuke while looking at his surroundings. "It looks just like the shopping district, but the sky…what's going on here?"

"Some weird places like this have appeared here recently. Things are getting so tangled; I dunno what to do..." whimpered Teddie with a sad tone.

"…hey, Teddie, why are you standing so far from us?" the headphones-wearing boy had just noticed how far the bear was from them. Teddie was originally leading the two had somehow slowly made his way until being far behind them. "You better not be planning to high-tail it if something does come up!"

"Of course not! I mean…" the bear averted his eyes, trying to look nonchalant as a pink blush tinged his cheeks…somehow. "I can't stand too close…I'd get in your way, and that, ya know…"

"Whatever you say, Teddie…" sighed Yosuke while shaking his head and looking at the 'fake' version of part Inaba. "Man, they really went all out on this… But out of all the places in town, why'd they replicate this one?"

Yu was also wondering the cause of that, and none of his ideas seemed to be good.

"How should I know? This is reality for the one who are here." cryptically commented the bear, making the silver-haired boy look at him in confusion.

"As usual, nothing you say makes any sense…" Yosuke turned away with another sigh before his eyes widened. "But wait… if this is our shopping district, then we're not far from Saki-sempai's…" the boy broke into a hurried run, his companions blink in confusion before running after him

After running a couple hundreds of meters, Yosuke stopped in front of a certain store with a rather weird vortex-like entrance instead of a door, which resembled the red and black sky that seemed to cover that world.

"I knew it! This is the liquor store that Saki-sempai's parents run!" the boy seemed deep in thought for a moment. "Does that mean that…sempai disappeared here? What could've happened…?"

"W-Wait a second…they're here!"

Both teens looked questioningly at Teddie, who was looking around, apparently panicking about something that only he knew about.

Yu felt the bad feeling of that morning come back at full force.

"Sha-Shadows…I had a feeling they were around! Th-they are going to attack…!"

The silver-haired boy froze when he heard something land on the ground behind him, with an audible, wet splat. Slowly, he turned around in time to see a trio of black, slime-like creatures, wearing blue masks for a face on, moving through the ground. All of them were staring directly at Yu and Yosuke seemingly uninterested in Teddie.

Both of them broke into cold sweet at feeling the HUNGER in those hollow 'eyes'.

Each pile of slime rose into the air, each turning into a spherical shape. The colour began to change until resembling some sort of pink and black striped pattern. Each of them turned around, revealing that they all had massive mouths with rows human-like teeth and a long, black, slobbering tongue.

The Shadows shot towards Yu first, who shielded his face with his arms while taking a step back, even as both Yosuke and Teddie screamed.

_I am thou…and thou art I._

"What?" muttered the boy as his eyes widened.

Time seemed to stand still, even as Yu's mind went into overdrive, assaulted by a blur of images and sound.

A limousine going through the fog, a familiar girl joining the other residents in their velvet-covered abode…and then, everything changed, as if distorted by a kaleidoscope of colours.

Endless battlefields, always walking forward, never doubting his path…

_The time has come…_

The knight stood proudly, always wielding his blade without hesitation, always ready to fight alongside his fellow knights, always ready to give it all for the kingdom…

Always, until the bitter end, fighting for the glory of the King.

_Open thine eyes, and call forth what's BEYOND!_

Fate twisted and changed, and the entire world seemed to shake as the future was altered.

A blue spinning card floated down toward Yu's suddenly raising hand, power emanating from it and making the eerie creatures freeze in their tracks. The boy looked straight at it, as if in a trance, even more images coursing through his head as his eyes took into the card's design.

One side depicted a western knight of old, wielding a sword. His glasses reflected the dual-coloured mask design it had on the back it had on the back. Just under the knight's image, there was a single word written in English instead of Japanese, just under the knight's image, with the number zero written in front of it. A word that held a meaning of Power and ancient mysteries in it.

**SABER**

Instinctively, Yu spoke the word that suddenly came to his mind.

"Per…!"

A world the change the destiny of the world…

"…so…!"

And, this time, more than ever it had had before.

"…NA!"

The boy grinned, his eyes widening slightly as he crushed the card and was bathed in bluish-white flames, a mystic-looking summoning circle appearing under his feet.

The power that should have been called from within came instead from Beyond.

From beyond time and space.

A majestic figure emerged from the flames, a knight in white-silver armour over a black-blue bodysuit, his blonde hair shining under the eerie light of the TV world, the silver and blue sword he wielded in his hands seeming to shine with the glory of the Sun itself.

One of the shadows seemed to regain its courage and charged at the knight, who remained unfazed.

Then, his until then closed eyes OPENED.

In less than a second, the creature was dead, cut in half by a blade which moved at a speed no human could hope to follow.

The other two beasts roared in rage and charged at the knight, ready to avenge their fallen brethren.

The imposing being (For it was impossible to just call it a man) simply skewered one of the raging beasts with his sword, easily catching the other one by the tongue whit his armoured free hand, not even looking at it. Then, he simply SLAMMED the Shadow against the ground, with enough force to turn its body into a black smear that quickly turned into nothingness.

The whole exchange hadn't taken more than 3 seconds.

Yu's confusion and absolute shock, which was shared by the stupefied forms of Yosuke and Teddie, increased by tenfold when the knight approached and knelt before him.

"Upon your summoning, I have come forth. Under the Class of Saber and the Arcana of the Fool, I will be your Sword and Shield against anything that stands before you." the knight raised his head, his aqua blue eyes seeming to see into his very soul. "I'm Gawain, knight of Camelot, and now your Persona, my king."

"I-I'm Y-Yu Na-Narukami" stuttered the boy as a greeting/introduction unsure of what else to say to the clearly otherworldly being.

"The Contract is sealed, then. I will serve you to the best of my abilities, Yu Narukami" vowed Gawain with a solemn look. "Merely call and I shall come to your aid, my king."

With that, the imposing knight vanished, fading away in a flurry of blue flames. Even so, the silver-haired boy could still feel its presence, silently watching and lingering in the back of his mind, as if waiting for his call before even talking or moving.

Finally, the 'spell' that had immobilized the other two members of the group seemed to break, shown by how Yosuke quickly ran towards Yu's side with an excitement-filled face.

"Wh-what the freaking hell was that?! How did you do it?!" asked the boy with absolute shock. "Di-Did I hear you say 'Persona'?! What was it-I mean, what did you even do?! And…did that guy call himself 'Gawain'?"

"Ye-yeah, he did." muttered the silver-haired boy while looking at his hands with equal, if not more, shock than his friend.

It was to be expected, because, even though it wasn't a Japanese one, the legend from where that name came from was something that almost everyone in the world had heard at one point or another.

Gawain of Camelot, one of the Knights of the Round Table. One of the greatest warriors of the legendary King Arthur.

"Did you really somehow summoning a knight from myth?!" it was clear that the other boy was more astonished by the idea than her let on. "Hey, how do you think that…?!"

"Calm down, Yosuke! You're troubling Sensei!" suddenly interrupted Teddie while pushing the aforementioned boy aside.

"He-hey, I wasn't…! Wait, did you just call him 'Sensei'?" the boy's tone was full of incredulity as he watched the bear run at Yu's side.

"Gosh almighty, you're amazing Sensei! I'm one impressed bear!" excitedly exclaimed Teddie, all the while making exaggerated gestures to express his amazement. "I can't believe you were hiding such an amazing power! No wonder the Shadows were scared of you!" another realization seemed to hit the beat. "Don't tell me…are you the one who's able to bring people into this world?"

The boy nodded dumbly, unable to think of what to say as he kept staring into his hands. Whatever the hell he had done to call that 'Gawain' was making him feel a strange strain in his inside, as if a headache was forming into the bad of his mind.

"Hah! That's what I thought! This is really something impressing!" declared the bear before addressing the last member of their group with a totally normal tone. "Don't you think so, Yosuke?"

"Dude, you call him Sensei and then don't show me any respect?!" growled said boy before making Teddie fall over his back, only for the bear to immediately spring back to his feet.

"So-sorry..."

"Well, anyways let's move on." sighed Yosuke with annoyance before walking forward. "If we keep this up then I think we'll be fine from here on out…so, let's get back to the investigation!"

With that Yosuke strolled in through the portal door to the liquor store. Sighing and trying to ignore the strange feeling inside of himself, Yu quickly followed the other boy inside, hoping that they didn't get into any more troubles. Teddie also followed them, once again from a safe distance.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The interior of the store was dark, with various stacks of alcohol reaching the ceiling. Shelves were lined with bottles of various types of alcohol and brand. And, much like outside, there were whispering voices inside…only this time it was just one voice, and it was male.

" _Saki, how many times do I have to tell you?!_ "

"Wa-wait, isn't that…Sempai's dad…?" murmured Yosuke with confusion, eve as Yu glanced around with a frown.

_"You know what the neighbours say about you, right! Aren't you ashamed of yourself? You're the eldest daughter of a family who has owned this store for generations! Is it the money? Or did you meet some guy there?! Just tell me why you have to work THERE, of all places!_ "

"I…I can't believe this…She seemed like she had fun at work… She never said anything like this to me…" the boy trembled in confusion as he waked forward "You're telling me THIS was what Sempai had to put up with every day?!"

Suddenly, Yosuke walked over to the counter, having seen something that caught his eye. There, lying on the table, were many cut up photos. What got to Yosuke the most, but, was that all the photos…were of him and Saki. He picked one up and looking it over with confusion.

"It's… the photo we took the other day with the other part-timers at Junes…Wh-Why's it cut up like this…?"

Yu gave his friend a sympathetic look as he walked over to him; even as the boy picked another thing up, letting the boy see that it was a ripped-up movie ticket.

"Runway…Heart?" read the boy with a raising eyebrow, idly adjusting his glasses to mask his growing headache.

"I…gave Sempai that the other day…" Yosuke choked out with a pained and confused expression.

Yu turned to the boy and frowned once again, but before he could say anything, an eerily familiar voice echoed through the store, making him freeze in his tracks.

" _I…never had the chance to say it…_ "

"Is that…Sempai's voice?!" cried the brown-haired boy while looking around

"I always wanted to tell Hana-chan…"

"Huh…? M-me…?" stuttered Yosuke with hope in his eyes. Was this the confession he has been hoping for…?

" _…that he was a real pain in the ass._ "

Yosuke's arms went slack and the picture in his hands fell onto the floor, the light disappearing from his eyes.

"Wha…?"

" _I was nice to him just because he was the manager's son, that's all!_ "

"P-Pain in the ass…?" Yu cringed upon hearing the pain in his friend's voice.

" _Who cares about Junes, anyway? Because of that store, our business is ruined, my parents hate me, and the neighbours' talk behind my back!_ " there was something…dark and twisted in the words that Saki's voice was speaking, something that made the new presence inside Yu shift in place. " _I wish that everyone…would just DIE…_ "

"I-It's a lie…" muttered Yosuke in shocked disbelief. "This… can't be…Saki-sempai was not like that…!"

Everything the boy thought he knew about Saki was just shattered within the past few moments, and it was clear that it was deeply affecting him. Yu wished he could do something to help his friend, but he didn't know how…he didn't understand Yosuke that well yet. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't try to…

**"It's so sad…** " a distorted yet familiar voice mocked, making the three freeze in their tracks. " **I feel so sorry for myself… Boo hoo!** "

Yu, Yosuke and Teddie slowly turned around, their eyes widening at seeing something that shocked them to the core.

Standing in the corner of the room, half-hidden by the shadows…was another Yosuke, except that he had yellow-golden eyes and a dark and sinister aura emanating from his body. A twisted grin was on his face even as 'he' looked at the incredulous teens in amusement.

" **Actually, I'M the one who thinks everything's a pain in the ass!** " he said scornfully before letting out an ominous laugh.

"H-Huh?!" Teddie's pupils shrank in shock. "Two Yosukes…?!"

Said boy scowled, throwing all caution to the wind and running over to confront the other him.

"Hey who are you?!"

" **Me? I'm you, of course!** " laughed the doppelganger while walking around the teen, who glared at him but didn't do anything else. **"Which means that I know everything about you.** " the cruel smile on the copy's face widened. " **You made everyone believe that you came here looking for Saki, right? Hah, what a fat load of crap! Truth is, you ONLY came here because you were looking for some fun, weren't ya? What else is there for you to do in this backwards shithole town?!** "

Yu really didn't like where this was going, and the new soul inside of him agreed with him. This other 'Yosuke' seemed to be purposely trying to provoke his friend for some reason.

"Yo-you are wrong, tha-that isn't true at all!" strongly denied the boy, but his lookalike ignored him and kept going.

" **You thought there was a chance you'd get lucky and become a hero! The death of your beloved Saki was just the excuse you needed to make the trip! Ahahaha!** "

The brown-haired boy was starting to lose it, and the headache in Yu's head was getting worse by the moment.

"Stop spouting this crap!" angrily demanded Yosuke while shaking his doppelganger. "Just who the hell are you?!"

" **I already told you: I am YOU.** " the smile in the thing's face became feral. " **I'm your Shadow. All that's hidden within yourself.** "

"Screw that! I don't know you!" Yosuke clenched his teeth, even as Yu's headache arrived to its peak. "You…!"

" _My king, stop him! It's a trickery of that foul abomination!_ " echoed Gawain's voice inside his head, making his eyes widen.

"Yosuke, wai…!"

"…you can't be me, you son of a bitch!" finished the frustrated boy, his friend's warning arriving too late, and then…

The Shadow started laughing. It started off as a quiet, dark chuckle, but soon it turned into a loud, maniacal laughter. His eyes shone brightly, almost menacingly.

" **That's right! Say it again!** "

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Yosuke's face as he stared at his Shadow, Yu being too busy grabbing his pained head to repeat the warning.

"You…you're not me…! Yo-You're nothing like me!"

" **Hmph.** " Yosuke's Shadow smirked. " **Yeah, that's right…I am ME now. I'm not you anymore…see?!** "

The boy stared at his Shadow, horrified when he noticed the dark aura emanating from it beginning to grow much darker. The aura soon engulfed him as blinding beams of light spewed dark waves of energy, several smaller bursts of darkness gathering over it.

"I-it's absorbing the smaller shadows in the area!" cried a terrified Teddie while running for cover. "The-they're fusing with him!"

Even as his warning ended, the display of light and darkness waned, and in the place of Yosuke's Shadow was now a large humanoid with spears for arms, one of a sickly golden and the other of a bloody crimson. His body seemed to be some sort of armoured bodysuit, with spiked boots and a spike-covered head, where a dark 'point' glowed in its right side

" **I am a Shadow of your true inner self!** " roared the abomination in which Shadow Yosuke had become, glaring down at his frozen 'original'. " **And I'll crush everything that bores me…Starting with you!** "

The humanoid monster lumbered over towards Yosuke, getting ready to use its deformed arms to impale him, the shocked and terrified boy seeming unable to even move. In that moment, Yu's headache seemed to recede, the boy gritting his teeth before raising his hand again.

"PERSONA!" once again, the card was crushed and the sound of shattering glass marked Gawain's appearance, the knight shooting forward at impressive speeds.

Gawain blocked the lance-arms of the creature and deflected them, forcing the Shadow off balance. Surprisingly, though, the being regained its balance with uncanny speed and tried to attack the Persona, who dodged the attack before engaging the abomination again.

"You won't touch my king's friend, abomination!" declared the knight while his sword clashed with the Shadow's arms.

'As I thought…this strange summoning has made my abilities to be severely limited.' darkly thought the Persona before pushing the enemy away with apparent ease, though once again being unable to do anything more than scratching it. 'Usually, I would have no problems with a demon of this level!

" **Out of my…way, pretty boy!** " growled the creature before spinning through the air and forcing the Persona to take a step back, even as he used his peerless skill to stop BOTH arm-lances with the flat of his blade. " **DAMN IT!** "

"That jerk…he isn't me…!" denied the trembling Yosuke while shaking his head, even as the battle of otherworld existences kept going. "We're nothing alike…nothing!"

"That jerk you speak of comes from a place inside your heart, Yosuke." reasoned Teddie, trying to make the boy see the truth even as Yu stood protectively in front of them, never taking his eyes off the fight. "It's a part of you!"

"No, it's not!" growled Yosuke in utter denial.

" **You put on a good show of pretending to be all carefree and happy-go-lucky but you're really terrified of being alone!** " taunted the Shadow while ducking under a slash from Gawain, batting the knight away with his right spear-arm, but the Persona didn't even seem to feel pain while turning in the air and engaging in battle once again. " **You would do ANYTHING just to gain some attention, even becoming the clown of their lives!** "

"No…that isn't me!" once again denied the boy, unable to accept the dark reality.

Gawain, meanwhile, wasn't having an easy time. The shadow tried to skewer him by rapidly firing its lances in and out at the knight, which seemed almost to extent just to try and hit him. The Persona avoided them by running along the wall with impressive agility, trying to find an opening to exploit and cursing once again the restrictions placed upon him by the strange summoning.

"You're not me at all!" Yosuke screamed once again, Teddie shifting nervously in front of him, not knowing what to do.

The boy suddenly tried to run away, but his Shadow suddenly disengaged Gawain and landed in front of him, batting him against the surprised Yu, who in turn fell into Teddie. Just then, the scared bear finally noticed ooze starting to form in corners and other places over the room.

"Oh no, he's attracting even more Shadows!" Teddie panicked as the dark beings slowly tried to find their way into the room. "Sensei, if we don't stop it soon, this'll get grizzly real fast!"

" **I know everything about you!** " the Shadow once again deflected Gawain's sword, the knight landing on a nearby beam before jumping once again at the abomination, only to be deflected once more, the surprised Persona noticing how the monster seemed to be getting STRONGER. " **I know how pathetic you really are!** "

As if summoned by the being's words, a pair of female Junes' workers appeared on the screens that were above them.

"Let's ask Yosuke for some help!" one of them said snidely.

"The prince of Junes?" the other asked, equally snide.

"He thinks everyone depends on him because he's the manager's son." the first one sneered

"What a loser!" the other laughed.

" **You see that?! Everyone just barely tolerates you, and yet you still try to pretend that everyone's your friend!** " taunted Shadow Yosuke, his dark aura growing even stronger.

"Shut the hell up!" demanded the boy while clutching his head

The Shadow leapt into the air once again, gaining an impressive amount of height and repeating the same attack of before, aiming to skewer Yosuke from above. The mad charge, but, was stopped at the last second by Gawain, who deflected the attack again with his sword, forcing the abomination to roll away before straightening itself, it's speed having grown noticeably.

"Your battle is with, me monster." growled the knight before engaging in a duel of assault and deflection with the Shadow, both his blade and the spear-arms of the creature moving so fast that they seemed to blur through the air, sparks flying everywhere.

"Here it comes!" declared a Yosuke that appeared in one of the screens. "Booyah!"

"But he took it the wrong way and now he thinks I like him…What an idiot." Saki's sneering voice declared.

" **Living in the boonies bored you, so you decided to ask her out!** " mocked Shadow Yosuke as he leapt away and tried to impale Gawain again, who dodged and weaved through all the attacks with unparalleled skill, but was still unable to strike a decent blow into the creature. " **All you wanted was some cheap thrills!"**

"You're wrong!" denied Yosuke yet again while trying to cover his ears. "You're wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong…!"

" **You're better off dead!** " the shadow made another attempt at Yosuke, but was stopped a third time by the shining figure of the Persona, even as Yu suddenly moved in front of his trembling friend. In unison, the knight and the boy reared back their fists, Gawain's armoured crashing hard against the Shadow's, sending it flying at one of the remaining beams, while Yu's once punched Yosuke in the same spot, having a similar effect that his Persona's.

"Oops. Wrong guy." said the silver-haired boy with an unrepentant tone, Teddie snickering because of it.

"Du-dude whaddya mean wrong guy?!" screamed a pained Yosuke while trying to get up. "Yo-you almost broke my jaw, dam…!"

"You loved her, didn't you?" Yu's sudden question seemed to freeze the other boy in his tracks. "Saki."

"Yeah..." admitted Yosuke while looking down in shame. "I…truly loved her."

"Then…isn't that enough?" questioned the boy while offering his friend a hand.

"I guess…you're right." muttered the brown-haired teen while accepting the offer.

"But she dumped ya!" smirked Teddie, making the boy glare at him.

"Shut up!" finally screamed Yosuke, his words seeming to echo through the TV world. "I knew it wasn't lying, but I was so ashamed that I didn't want to admit it." at the boy's words, his Shadow seemed to freeze mid-swing, Gawain don't even stopping to wonder why and taking advantage of the opening to cut a deep gash on the creature's chest, sending it flying back with a pained howl. "To get along with others, I had to change the way I acted. Yeah, even I think I'm a pain in the ass sometimes…But my feelings for her were real. That thing's a part of me, right?" the boy sadly shook his head, even as Yu smiled at him and the zone around them seemed to shimmer, the silver-haired boy's Persona being covered in a bluish aura. "When you get down to it, all of this…is me."

" **NO! AAAGGGHHHH! YOU'RE SO FREAKING ANNOYING!** " yelled Shadow Yosuke while getting up, blue static dancing about its body, which seemed to flicker in and out of existence, before glaring directly at Gawain's figure. " **I'll kill you, dammed tin canned bastard!** "

The arm-spears of the Shadow extended towards the knight with the speed of bullets, in a last ditch attempt to kill him.

The Persona didn't even move.

"Not today, monster." stated Gawain while letting out a deep breath.

The knight waited until both spears were close enough and then surprised the shadow by using his sword to make a large opening in between the two spears, dashing into the gap towards the now vulnerable Shadow.

" **N-no stay back!** " screamed the shadow, trying to withdraw its spears to defend itself.

It wasn't fast enough.

"You struggle in vain, monster! Begone!" roared Gawain as he closed the final gap between him and the Shadow.

The Knight of the Sun finally arrived before the monster's form and, before it could even scream again, cut off its right arm, quickly followed by its left, causing both spear-arms to clatter to the ground before vanishing away, black 'blood' shooting out of the pained monster's body. Before the shadow could even let out another scream of pain, however Gawain spun around and cleaved it in two, his blade shining with a yellow-orange radiance for a second.

The former lance-wielding shadow shrank away, reverting into a simple copy of Yosuke once again.

The knight never stopped pointing it's sword at him.

Calmly, Yosuke walked over to his shadow and knelt down by its side, pushing his hand on each of his shoulders, causing it to look up at him.

"You are me." accepted the boy with a tired smile. "And I guess that I'm you, too."

Yosuke's Shadow smiled and nodded before being enveloped in a blue glow. It rose into the air before it burst into a wave of blue flames that surrounded Yosuke, making the boy grunt in pain as he felt SOMETHING connecting itself to his very soul.

A summoning circle formed itself around him and, before Teddie's and Yu's surprised eyes, a new form rose.

It was a man of spiky black hair, dressed in a tight-fitting and green armour-bodysuit. In his hands, there were two spears, which shined with a glow beyond human comprehension, much the same as Gawain's sword. The longer of the two was a bright crimson red and the other was dark-golden in appearance. The other and most notorious trait he had was a tiny beauty spot under his right eye.

The knight opened his orange eyes and knelt before the surprised Yosuke.

"My lord, I am Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, Knight of Fianna." stated the otherworldly being with a tone full of utmost respect. "Under the Arcana of the Magician and the Lancer Class, I will serve from now on as your Persona."

With that said, Diarmuid vanished and in his place appeared another card like the one that Yu had summoned before, the figure of a spearman of past times, with the number one shining just next to the word LANCER. The card floated down over Yosuke's body and disappeared into a gentle light, which settled inside his chest.

"He's my..."

"...Persona." Yu finished for him.

"Narukami. You really saved my ass. Thanks, dude." muttered Yosuke with a grateful nod, even as he felt as a strain had just been placed inside his body.

"Till next time, my king. Call me if you need me." bowed Gawain before vanishing, the silver-haired boy feeling the knight returning to the back of his mind. He also felt relief surge through his body for some reason, as if a great weight had been lifted from it.

The headache pounding at his head didn't stop, though.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After the whole ordeal with Yosuke's shadow, he and Yu decided to use Teddies' exit and return home, but not before promising the bear that they would come back, of course.

Quickly falling out of the TV, Yu landed again on one knee while Yosuke fell flat on his ass once more.

"Ow! My ass…" groaned the boy while rubbing his rear, trying to ignore the rising headache he was feeling.

"You guys came back!" cried Chie while bursting into tears, surprising both boys who, honestly, had almost forgotten about their friend thanks to everything that had happened

"Uh…what's wrong with you?" asked Yosuke with confusion even as Yu shook his head.

"Don't act like you don't know!" growled the girl before throwing the cut rope at Yosuke. "The damn rope snapped off as soon as you guys left and I've been worried sick this whole time! You jerks; I can't believe you guys put me through this! You guys suck!"

"I'm so-sorry, Chie." Yosuke said apologetically while laughing nervously.

"Me too." nodded Yu while massaging his pained head. "We didn't mean to worry you, I swear."

"…Y-you owe me ten beefsteaks." Mumbled Chie while crossing his arms and looking

"Come again?!" gawked the headphones-wearing boy.

'That was a quick recovery.' thought Yu with sweatdrop.

"I want ten orders of beefsteak!" repeated the girl in a louder voice. "And you CAN'T say no, get it?!"

"Ye-yeah of course, that's cool!" quickly agreed Yosuke, trying to get Chie to stop crying. "That's a great way to say we're sorry! Right, Narukami?!"

"Me too?" asked the other boy with confusion.

"He's getting me nikudon." said the brown-haired girl while wiping her eyes on her sleeves.

"Sure…you got it." agreed Yu with a soft nod, even as he took off Teddie glasses, doing his best to ignore the strange headache.

"Okay then…I forgive you." smiled Chie while both boys sighed.

At least things seemed to have calmed down.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Later, Yosuke and Yu were walking home through the Samegawa Flood Plain using their umbrellas to shield themselves from the rainy weather.

"Man, I'm beat…" groaned the brown-haired teen while shaking his head

"Same here." agreed the other boy, the weird headache refusing to go away.

"…Saki and Ms. Yamano were thrown into that dangerous place, uh?"

Yu thought back to what Teddie had said to them before they came back to their own world.

"You wanna know what I think? I think that maybe the people who came in here were attacked by their Shadows, just like what happened with Yosuke!"

"If someone really is forcing people into the TV then we can't just ignore it." Declared Yosuke with an unusual determination. "We gotta figure who is doing it and make them stop!"

"Indeed. We made a promise, after all." stated the silver-haired boy, smiling softly as he did so.

"Well, you did anyway." sighed the other teen before grinning at him. "Hey...I think that, with you, I can really find the culprit and solve the case." Yosuke then held out his hand towards him. "I'll be counting on you, partner."

Yu only hesitated for a moment before shaking his hand, smiling at his new friend.

"Same here, Yosuke."

And behind both of them, the spectral figures of two knights, incredibly different and yet very similar, watched over their Masters with proud looks, waiting for the moment when they would be needed again.

And in the back of Yu Narukami's mind, a flame with the number 'One' burned to life and, slowly, another soul started to connect to it from Beyond…


	3. Friends?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer: I do not own Fate Stay Night or Persona 4 they are the property of their respective owners, any resemblance to any other Fate Stay Night or Persona 4 fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only. ******  
> [-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Yu found himself glaring at the 'man' in front of him, this traitor who had killed his brothers.

' _Brothers? But I don't have any brothers!_ '

"Stop this, Gawain." The man implored. "Please just stop."

"No, for Gareth and Gaheris... I will kill you... Lancelot." He growled at the black-armored knight opposite him.

' _Lancelot? As in Sir Lancelot of the round table?'_

Yu felt himself lunging at Lancelot, who met his sword with his own in a defensive posture.

"Gawain, I do not want to fight you!" Lancelot implored.

"Enough talk, I will have your head... for my brothers."

' _Are these….Gawain's memories?_ ' Yu wondered in confusion.

"Hoh, you think that the life of that Mongrel is something worth mentioning?" An arrogant voice asked.

Suddenly Yu found himself not watching from Gawain's perspective but as though it were a movie on a screen. He tried to look around and find the source of the voice but saw no one in the starry darkness around him, he was alone save for the memory of Gawain's that played in front of him.

"Don't bother; I see no reason to reveal myself to someone of your station, half-breed."

With that proclamation everything began to fall away and Yu felt himself awakening.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/16 Saturday, Yasogami High, Inaba]

When they arrived at school, Yosuke and Yu were talking about what they had seen on the Midnight Channel last night. Although Yu's thoughts were on the dream he had last night, he decided not to question Gawain on his memories because he felt it might be an invasion of his privacy, but Yu had asked if Gawain was alone within Yu's consciousness.

' _I am not alone, my king, there is another. A Caster if I'm not mistaken, under the Magician Arcana, but he is dormant and silent for now, almost as if he is a statue waiting for life._ ' Was the reply his Persona had given him.

"Did you see it?" Yosuke asked.

"Yeah, I did." Yu confirmed with a nod.

Their conversation stopped when Chie ran into the classroom out of breath as though she'd been running, she had a worried expression on her face.

"Chie, what's wrong?" The Junes boy questioned.

"Is Yukiko here?" Chie asked, concern for her friend coloring her voice.

"Sorry, she hasn't shown up yet." Yosuke replied.

"Crap! What should I do?" Chie asked worriedly.

"Did something happen?" Yu asked.

"I was watching the Midnight Channel last night…"

"Yeah, we were just talking about it." Yosuke interrupted her.

"I think I saw Yukiko on it." Chie said anxiously. "I've seen her in that kimono before. She wore it during that one interview. I've sent her a ton of texts but she hasn't responded."

"Tried calling?" Yu asked.

"It just goes straight to voice-mail."

"You don't think Yukiko..." Yosuke trailed off.

"Don't go there!" Chie yelled, earning her stares from the students who had arrived in class.

"Sorry. She's okay. She's probably just busy. Or she could've lost her cell."

"Well, do you think she could be helping her family out around the inn?" Yu asked.

"Yeah! That's gotta be it! I'll swing by there right now!" Chie said, walking towards the door to leave

"You're leaving? But schools about to start." Yosuke pointed out.

Chie stopped short of the door when her phone rang, she answered it quickly.

"Yes?" Chie said to her caller. "Yukiko! Thank God!"

"You're there!"

"Yeah, yeah! Okay."

"Oh, it's nothing. I'll text you later."

"What a relief!" Chie sighed as the call ended. "She's been busy 'cause a huge group came in without reservations."

"But if it wasn't Yukiko..."

"Then who was that on the Midnight Channel?"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Later school ended and the bell signaling home time rang. Yu and Yosuke were following Chie down the stairs; she had an open notebook in her hands and seemed to be reading it.

"What's that?" Yu asked.

"Whoa, your handwriting really sucks." Yosuke commented with slight surprise earning him a kick to stomach from Chie, which in turn got the attention of a short black haired girl who was putting up a poster for the music club.

"I took notes for Yukiko." Chie explained more to Yu than Yosuke.

"T-they look g-great..." Yosuke groaned, changing his tune as he collapsed.

"Careful on the way down." Yu said to Yosuke as he walked past him and looked at a poster for the basketball club.

"Hey! You the transfer student?" a voice asked.

Yu turned around and saw a boy with dark blue hair and gray eyes, wearing the standard Yasogami High school uniform. Next to him was a student with short brown hair, brown eyes and a brown Band-Aid on his nose. He was wearing the navy blue PE uniform instead of the standard uniform.

"That's right." Yu said.

"Have you played much basketball?" he asked.

"No, not really."

"Hey!" Chie called "Let's go!" Yu nodded and walked off to follow Chie.

"Tough luck, Ichijo" Yosuke said, quickly recovering and patting Ichijo's shoulder before running off too.

"Well let me know if you change your mind, new guy!" Ichijo called after Yu. "Even inexperienced sophomores are welcome!"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/16 Saturday, Junes Electronics Department, Inaba]

The trio walked into the electronics department at Junes and began looking at the TV. The only problem was that there far too many people around in the electronics department today. Because of this they couldn't go through the TV without being seen.

"It's really crowded today." Chie sighed.

"Hey, try sticking your hand in and see if you can get Teddie's attention." Yosuke whispered.

Yu gave one final glance around to see that no one was watching and stuck his hand inside the TV.

"Yeowch" Yu felt something bite his hand and immediately withdrew it.

"Dude, what happened?" Yosuke asked anxiously.

"Something bit me." Yu replied.

' _It would appear that Teddie is certainly there._ ' Gawain commented ' _Perhaps something has agitated him?'_

"I-It left bite marks! Are you okay?" Chie asked, ignoring both of the Personas and seeing that there indeed teeth marks on Yu's hand.

"I think I'm dying." Yu deadpanned.

"No, you're not." Chie sweat dropped.

"Is that Chie I hear?" Teddie's voice asked. "What's up? Is this a new game?"

"Teddie, does it feel like anyone's in there?" Yosuke asked the bear.

"Who's anyone? I'm a lonely little bear like always." Teddie replied "This land feels so bear-ren."

"I get it!" Chie snapped impatiently. "So you're sure no one's there?"

"I-I'm not lying! My nose is running as good as ever!" Teddie replied quickly.

"Alright, no one is over there but yesterday we saw someone on Midnight Channel." Chie said "What's up with that?"

"Let's check it out again tonight." Yu replied, curious as to what was going on.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Later on that night Yu had decided to busy himself by making paper cranes and glanced at his clock and watched as it struck midnight. His room was dark and he was alone, plus it was a rainy night.

Then the Midnight Channel came on and Yu was shocked at what he saw. There clearly on the screen was Yukiko except she was wearing a pink ball gown which was decorated with roses. She was also wearing matching pink arm-length gloves with a golden tiara sitting atop her head. She was holding a microphone as she was hosting a TV show. She appeared to be standing near the entrance of a castle of some sort. Yu noted that the door was a black and red portal similar to the liquor store.

"Hi there, my name is Yukiko Amagi!" She exclaimed excitedly. "And tonight I'm gonna score myself a hot stud!"

Yu was shocked enough to drop the origami crane that he was currently working on.

"It's Princess Yukiko's Hunt for Her Prince Charming!" As she said this a sign appeared above her which said 'Princess Yukiko's Hunt for Her Prince on a White Horse.'

"And I came prepared! My lacy unmentionables are ready to go!" She said, patting the lower part of her dress. "And so is my heart!"

Yu felt his jaw drop and ignored Gawain who appeared behind him.

' _It is her shadow, my king._ ' Gawain stated as he manifested. ' _That is not the Yukiko you know but her shadow, her true inner feelings_.'

"Yeah." Yu agreed and continued watching.

"You see, I'm out to tame me a whole pack of the best studs there are." Yukiko's shadow clenched its fist as it kept talking. "Well, here I go!"

With the show over Yukiko's Shadow ran off into the castle, the camera panned upwards before the Midnight Channel ended. Yu remained silent, not quite sure what to say at what he'd seen, his silence was interrupted by his phone ringing.

"H-Hey, did you see that?!" Yosuke asked apparently just as stunned as Yu was judging from his tone.

"I kind of wish that I'd taped it." Yu replied looking at the dead screen.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/17 Sunday, Dojima Residence, Inaba]

After getting dressed, Yu walked downstairs and found Nanako up and watching the TV surprisingly early.

"Oh, good morning!" She greeted him.

"Good morning." Yu replied, still awkward around his cousin. "Where's your dad?"

"He left already." Nanako replied. "He said he's gonna be late. Are you going somewhere?"

"Yeah, I was going to hang out with my friends." Yu replied, although he was having second thoughts about leaving Nanako alone.

"Don't worry about me. I can hold down the fort." Nanako said as if she'd read his mind.

Yu stayed for a couple of seconds, watching the little girl change the TV to the weather channel.

" _High pressure is moving in, so we should have clear skies all day. Let's see what to expect for the—_ "

"It's gonna be sunny. I should do some laundry." Nanako said standing up and going to start the laundry. "See you tonight."

"See you later then." Yu replied leaving the house.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[Junes Food Court, Inaba]

Yu was waiting at the Food Court for Yosuke and Chie to arrive. He just finished making his fifteenth Oragami crane when Yosuke arrived.

"Narukami!" he yelled with an excited grin "Hey!"

' _My lord, if I may. This is a bad idea.'_ Diarmuid said, appearing in spirit form. ' _Those weapons will get you into trouble if you continue to wave them around in public._ '

"It'll be fine" Yosuke said, attempting to reassure his Persona. "We just need to wait for Chie to come and we'll be gone before anyone notices I have these."

"Notices you have what?" Yu asked curious as to what could have Diarmuid concerned.

"I found some stuff we can use in my closet, check these out." Yosuke grinned, pulling out what looked like a machete and katana.

' _You should go to the counter and order a drink, Sir Narukami._ ' Diarmuid suggested in a serious tone. ' _I do not believe that you wish to be here in a few seconds.'_

' _I agree, if my knowledge of this country's laws from what I've seen in your mind is correct then we should distance ourselves from Yosuke for now._ ' Gawain suggested, agreeing with the knight of Fianna.

Deciding not to question it Yu just went along with what Diarmuid had suggested and went to get another drink seeing as his had run out anyway.

"Why'd you do that, Diarmuid?" Yosuke demanded of his Persona.

' _Because of this._ ' Diarmuid sighed as a police offer appeared.

"Suspicious young teenage boy found armed with multiple weapons." The officer said into his radio.

"Hey, wait! This isn't what it looks like!" Yosuke protested.

"You're coming with me, kid." The officer said, forcing Yosuke to drop the weapons and cuffing him.

"Wait I wasn't doing anything! I was just messing around!" Yosuke protested. "You see me and-"

"Save it for the station."

"Aw man..." Yosuke groaned as more Police officers arrived and took him away to a car to be taken down to the station.

After getting his new milkshake Yu could only watch as Yosuke was taken away.

' _Was he unaware of Japanese law concerning weaponry in public?_ ' Gawain asked.

"No, I'm pretty sure he was just being an idiot." Yu replied bluntly.

' _I should go with him and make sure he does not get himself into more trouble._ ' Diarmuid bowed, waved, and vanished presumably back to Yosuke's mind.

Yu spotted Chie moving through the crowd and called after Yosuke after watching him be taken away by the police in the squad car.

"What's going on here?" Chie asked herself "Yukiko's..."

"It's alright." Yu said, putting his hand on her shoulder and surprising her.

"Narukami, you weren't arrested with Yosuke?" she asked.

"No, I left him alone to get a drink on the advice of his Persona." Yu explained. "Next thing I know he's being arrested. Probably because of those fake weapons he was waving around."

"Aggh, that idiot!" Chie growled. "Let's go to the police station and see if we can't clear this up or something. He'd better hope the cops arrest him cause if they don't he's going to be getting another 'critical hit to the nads'."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/16 Saturday, Police Department, Inaba]

When they arrived at the station, Chie was frustrated even further to find that Yosuke was going to be held for another two hours to be questioned and warned about the consequences of waving fake weapons out in public. So they waited in the lobby for nearly two hours waiting for Yosuke to be released. Chie had told him how Yukiko had gone missing and Yu suspected that she was in the TV.

Yu decided to keep himself occupied by teaching Chie to make origami cranes like he could; she wasn't very good to say the least. How she managed to make a crane look like a cross between a giraffe and pig was a total mystery to him. Luckily they had time, so he patiently kept guiding her through the steps until she managed to make something that at least looked like a bird.

"Man, I hope you've learned your lesson." Came the voice of Adachi, his uncle Dojima's partner. "If you weren't the friend of Dojima's nephew and it wasn't your first offense with fake weapons to boot then you wouldn't have gotten off so lightly."

"I'm sorry." Yosuke said apologetically.

"Yosuke!" Chie called out to him.

"Huh, Chie and Narukami?"

"It's Yukiko, she's gone missing!" Chie exclaimed. "She was definitely home last night, but no one's seen her since then, oh and…"

Chie kicked Yosuke in the balls again, causing him to fall to his knees.

"Aw critical hit to the nads, what was that for?" the boy groaned as he tried to recover from the blow.

"For wasting time you dumbass" Chie growled at Yosuke.

"We already know about this, Yukiko's family has asked us to start looking for her." Adachi intervened in the situation. "Are you her friends?"

"Yes..."

"Can you remember something unusual happening lately?" Adachi asked, taking out his notebook "Did she seem troubled by anything?"

"Like what?" Yosuke asked standing up finally recovering from the kick.

"The murder at the inn, that's were Ms. Yamano was staying before the incident." Adachi elaborated. "It seems she was such a high maintenance guest that Yukiko's mom collapsed from the stress of trying to keep her happy, not to mention she had some harsh words for her as well."

"See, some of the guys have a theory." Adachi paused and looked around to see that no one else was eavesdropping. "The rumor here is that Yukiko's hiding out because she did something to get back at Ms. Yamano to avenge her mother-"

"Oh come on?!" Chie yelled angrily. "You think Yukiko's the murderer?!"

"Relax, it's just a theory floating around-" Adachi attempted to calm her down.

"Like hell it is!" Chie attempted to charge at Adachi, only for Yu and Yosuke to restrain her.

"Chie!" Yu grabbed onto her left side to restrain her.

"Calm down!" Yosuke said grabbing onto her right side.

"I-I'm not saying-" Adachi stuttered.

"Hey, what's going on here?!" Dojima shouted as he and a lot of other officers came to see what the commotion was about.

"Let's go." Yu said commandingly.

"Come on, Chie."

"Yukiko..." Chie's strength appeared to drain away as her concern fro her friend overwhelmed her and tears flowed from her eyes. "Yukiko would never….."

"What did you tell her?" Dojima demanded, glaring at Adachi.

"I just... nothing, really." Adachi's protest died in his mouth as he let out a long suffering sigh.

When the trio had left the station, Chie turned around to face the boys with a determined

look on her face.

"Listen, guys, we've gotta save her."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Didn't we… see this place on the Midnight Channel last night?" Chie asked, staring up at the castle which had been featured on the Midnight Channel's broadcast of Princess Yukiko.

"I think you might wanna wait out here, Chie." Yu suggested to the meat loving girl.

"Nope, I'm going in there!"

"Once her mind's set there's no changing it." Yosuke sighed before looking at the bear. "Teddie, is Yukiko in there for real?"

"There is no doubt about it! My snout has even locked onto her scent!" Teddie puffed up with certainty.

With that final affirmation Chie charged headfirst into the castle.

"Hey, don't go running off on your own!" Yosuke yelled as Chie ran out of sight and into the castle. "Damn it!"

The two boys quickly pursued her into the castle, as did Teddie who did not want to be left alone.

"Don't leave me bearhind!"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Yukiko! Yukiko!" Chie called out to her friend hoping she'd answer, however all her calling out did was attract some sort of twin shadows.

"She's totally blind without her own pair of glasses." Yosuke sighed.

"Yosuke, let's go." Yu summoned his Arcana and crushed it. "Persona!"

"Let's rumble, Persona!" Yosuke leapt up and punched his Arcana, summoning Diarmuid.

The White Knight of the Sun appeared and leapt into battle, swiftly destroying three shadows with ease, Yu noticed that his headache returned and rubbed his head in pain.

"Nicely done, Sensei!" Teddie complimented.

Diarmuid twirled Gae Dearg in his hand before charging into the fray. The Knight of Fianna attempted to summon his other spear Gae Buidhe but was shocked when it did not heed his call; as such he was smashed out of the way by the Trance Twins which flew at Gawain who quickly sliced them in two.

"Yosuke, you've got a lot to learn." Teddie admonished.

"Man, all I get is crap from you."

"Strange, my Gae Buidhe refused to materialize." The knight of Fianna commented, destroying a shadow that got close with a quick stab.

"I believe it may be this strange method of summoning." Gawain stated, landing next to him. "For some reason our greater powers and Noble Phantasms are restricted."

"For what reason?"

"I know not, I have a theory but cannot be certain without more information."

Before the two could speculate more they were interrupted by Yu.

"Let's go!" Yu commanded, running ahead. "Gawain, you take point."

"Very well." Gawain nodded and readied his blade, destroying any shadows in the way with his superhuman prowess.

"Diarmuid, guard us from the back so they don't hit us from behind" Yosuke called out to his persona.

"Very well, my lord."

The Lancer acknowledged the command and turned around, using Gae Dearg to destroy a number of Trance Twin shadows who were attempting to be sneaky. Attempting, being the key word.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After managing to get to the second floor, the four males and Teddie destroyed shadow after shadow trying desperate to find Chie who had run off into the castle. They inspected room after room until they finally saw an open door and heard voices coming from it.

" **Yukiko's hot, sweet, and her skin is like totally perfect. Guys can't leave her alone.** " A distorted version of Chie's voice said. " **But when I heard that Yukiko is actually jealous of me... Man, did I get a charge out of that.** "

"Oh crap, is that what I think it is?" Yosuke groaned.

"It must be her shadow." Diarmuid said after destroying another shadow. "My lord, we should hurry, she is in trouble."

"Right."

The boys all ran towards the door, the voices never stopping their 'discussion'.

" **See, truth is if I wasn't around, Yukiko couldn't do anything, she's nothing without me.** " The shadow kept going. " **Because I am the one...who's truly the top dog around here!** "

"Shut up! That's now how I feel!" Chie denied. "You're a liar!"

Suddenly Yu, Yosuke, Teddie and the Personas all burst into the room.

"Hey Chie, you alright?" Yosuke called out to the girl who was facing down herself.

"Hey, that's..."

"….her shadow." Gawain finished for his master, readying his sword.

"I get the feeling this will end badly." Diarmuid said readying his own weapon.

"No, just stay there, don't come near me!" Chie demanded from the boys. "It's lies, it's all lies!"

"You're not safe!" Yu yelled, running at her with Yosuke.

"You idiot!"

Yu and Yosuke were cut off from Chie by seven Lying Hablerie shadows which had a black and white striped pattern. A large number of Trance Twins descended from the ceiling, forcing Gawain and Diarmuid back to back.

"Damn it! There are so many of them!"

"This is not looking good." Gawain sighed. "If only I could access my Noble Phantasm, taking out this many monsters would be child's play."

"Indeed, knight of the sun." Diarmuid agreed, readying for battle alongside his counterpart.

"If we are not careful our quest will fail right here."

"No, you're wrong..." Chie fell onto her hands and knees trying to keep tears out of her eyes.

" **Are you really just gonna continue to ignore me?** " The shadow asked smugly. " **Pretend that I don't exist?** "

"Shut up! You aren't real, you aren't real." Chie yelled, trying to block her shadow out.

"You've gotta be strong!" Yu yelled, trying to encourage the girl.

"She's a liar!" Chie insisted, covering her ears. "That isn't me!"

Shadow Chie began cackling as she began merging with the shadows that had gathered and was enveloped in a dark aura. When it cleared there stood some sort of hundred-handed creature that was wearing Chinese looking armor.

" **I am a Shadow...of your true inner self...** "

"Chie!" Yosuke yelled the girl's name as she screamed at the sight of her shadow's new more monstrous form. Diarmuid leapt into action, destroying the minor shadows that remained in order to clear the way.

As Chie's shadow made to bring one of its fists down on her Yosuke suddenly ran at her, grabbing her and rolling with her out of the way of the attack.

" **Don't get in my way!** "

The created then sent four fists to crush the two; Diarmuid was too occupied with destroying the minor shadows to help them. The boy and girl closed their eyes and waited for their doom, only it did not come. When they opened their eyes they saw Gawain standing into front of them and watched as the four arms simply disintegrated, having been sliced to ribbons by Gawain's sword.

" **So you're gonna annoy me too?** " The Shadow stated with irritation. " **Then I'd better teach you a little lesson.** "

"You may try, monster." Gawain growled at the shadow.

The shadow sent a fist to attack Gawain; it was larger than the others and was intended to crush the knight. However the Saber class Persona was able to destroy the attack but was left breathing heavily as his master's headache began to grow.

"Beariffic, sensei!" Teddie complimented.

Shadow Chie sent more fists at Gawain only for Diarmuid to appear in front of him, the Lancer tried to use his spear to block the attack and did catch a few of the fists, until the shadow sent more of them with greater force which destroyed Diarmuid's guard sending him as well as his master flying backwards, releasing Chie from his protective grip.

The Lancer suddenly found himself caught in the shadow's grip as multiple massive hands grabbed him and began squeezing him.

" **You're still there? I wish you'd die already.** " Shadow Chie commented as if only now noticing that her counterpart was still alive " **I promise to treat Yukiko very well….as my personal punching bag that is!** "

"Let her... be..."

" **I'm the one who can't do anything on my own. I'm the one who's pathetic.** " the shadow continued its taunting. " **But Yukiko truly needs me, that's the only reason I keep her around. I can't lose her.** "

"Chie... be smart... don't let her trick you!" Yosuke said as he weakly struggled to stand up.

" **Silence!** "

"Yosuke!" Chie yelled worriedly as another hand from her shadow wrapped around the boy's neck, stopping him from speaking.

"Release him and fight, demon!" Diarmuid demanded, struggling to break free.

" **Shut up!** " The shadow responded by squeezing the Lancer tighter.

"Gawain!"

The knight of the sun acknowledged his master's call and rushed to free Yosuke only to be blindsided by Chie's Shadow. The multi-armed creature sent more of its many arms to assault the knight. Luckily Gawain destroyed one arm that was coming from behind, however he failed to see another fist which smashed into him from the right. This left him open to more attacks, which smacked into him one after the other relentlessly until the shadow finally tossed him aside.

'This is bad, I've taken too much damage and my master cannot sustain me forever.' Gawain thought to himself as he stood up and noticed that his body was flickering with blue static. 'I should retreat; my master would be in an even worse position should he have no prana at all to work with.'

"Apologies, my king, I can aid you no further." Gawain apologized as he dematerialized.

"Damn it" Yu cursed as he felt the persona return to his mind.

"Oh, and for your information I'm not trying to trick her." The shadow spoke to Yosuke "These are my true colors, like it or NOT!"

The shadow smashed the ground with one of its fists and suddenly all of them were surrounded by darkness. Yu, Yosuke and Diarmuid could hear the voices of Chie and her shadow throughout the darkness.

**"Yukiko is so pretty."**

**"The boys go crazy over her."**

"This... This is me?" Chie's voice asked in the dark as they heard the Shadow chuckle.

" **Yes... these are the voices of the feelings you have. The words that you keep bottled up… deep down inside."**

**"Without me around, Yukiko would be nothing."**

**"She can't do anything."**

**"If it weren't for me, she'd be nothing."**

"No... no, it's not..." Chie's shame and regret were plainly audible as she was now unable to deny anything that was being said. "This... is...this is how I really feel? Oh..."

"So what if it is true? Who cares?" Yosuke shouted from the darkness, stopping Chie from speaking.

"You're still her friend, aren't you?" Yu asked the girl.

The girl let out a small gasp as she heard them, from wherever she was. Memories of all the good times she had with Yukiko began flashing before her eyes as warmth returned to her.

"Yukiko... look, they might be right but still... you and me... we'll always be friends!" Chie then glared up at where her Shadow last was, as she spoke the darkness around them dispersed, revealing the room they were fighting in. "Listen... you're a part of me that's true... you're a voice I pretend that doesn't exist." The girl slowly began to stand up as her courage began to build. "You're the pathetic part of me... but... that's still a part of me! Isn't that right?"

The Shadow shuddered and let out a pained groan as blue static rippled through her body and her fists all began clenching and trembling in pain.

"That's it!" Yosuke encouraged, causing the shadow to increase its grip on his throat.

" **Ooooh... cut the crap! Are you seriously going to acknowledge my existence and just accept me?** " the shadow demanded angrily as it sent a fist at her.

Chie flinched but was spared the attack when Yu jumped in front of her and was carried back by the attack and sent rolling across the ground.

"Narukami!" Chie yelled, worried for the boy who taken a blow for her.

"Alright, that's it." Yosuke said glaring at Chie's shadow which glared back while flickering and lifted him in the air by his neck with a shadowy hand.

" **I'm gonna rip you to pieces.** " The shadow growled angrily, using her multiple hands to try and crush Yosuke.

"Curse you!" Diarmuid tried desperately to break free and save his master but could not muster up enough force to destroy the hand that was gripping him.

"Yosuke!" Chie cried as he was lifted higher and his neck squeezed tighter.

"Oh no, oh no!" Teddie panicked. "Yosuke's a goner"  
Yu heard Margret's voice in his head.

" _My guest, there is something that may help you, you may borrow the weapons and abilities of your Persona for a short time, to do this you simply need to focus on the Persona in question and say 'Include'._ "

"Borrow?" Yu felt something. "Ok! Include: Gawain!" As he said this Excalibur Galatine materialized in his hands. The sword felt surprisingly light and glimmered like sunlight.

"A sword?" Yosuke questioned even as the hand from Chie's shadow grasped his throat.

"Wow, how'd you do that, Sensei?" Teddie asked in awe.

' _My king, this Include method appears to have lent you Galatine._ ' Gawain said. ' _It appears to use less Prana than summoning me completely does, but it most likely comes with its own risks; please allow me to guide you._ '

'Alright, just tell me what to do.' Yu thought back to his Persona as he began charging at the shadow.

' _Go left._ '

Yu dodged to the left, deftly avoiding a fist that attempted to strike him.

' _Back!_ '

The boy jumped back and narrowly avoided a fist that smashed in front of him, he quickly ran around it zigzagging around the fists the shadow was using to try and crush him, listening to every instruction that Gawain was giving him.

Within moments he closed in and destroyed the arm that was holding Yosuke.

"Thanks bro, I owe ya." Yosuke coughed as his partner gave him thumbs up before charging towards Diarmuid and freeing him as well.

"My thanks."

" **Don't think you've won!** " the shadow yelled sending a large fist at the two which was dodged.

' _Now my king, leap on it and run along the arm!_ ' Gawain yelled. ' _Strike now while it is vulnerable!_ '

Yu nodded and leapt upon the fist and began running along it towards the shadow.

" **Not so fast!** " The shadow sent multiple fists to try and intercept Yu.

"Diarmuid, cover him." Yosuke ordered his persona who nodded.

"At once." The Lancer leapt and landed alongside Yu, destroying any of the fists that got close.

The shadow tried to stop Yu by sending fists form every direction; unfortunately Diarmuid was quick enough to destroy each one as they came.

" **GET LOST!** " The shadow screamed and flung Yu into the air using the arm that he was running along.

In the few seconds that he was in the air Yu realized that that the shadow was still vulnerable in its panic to regain its composure.

"I will assist you." Diarmuid said leaping up to save Yu from his fall.

"No, throw me towards it." Yu ordered much to the Heroic Spirit's shock. "If you throw your spear at the same time to destroy anything it sends at me as well as hit it directly, then I can finish it off while it's off balance."

Diarmuid considered the plan and realizing that they had no time assented to the plan and with all the force he could muster grabbed onto Yu's shirt and tossed him towards the shadow.

" **I have you now!** " the shadow yelled sending a pair of fists at the boy with the intent of crushing him from both sides.

"No, we have you." The shadow was surprised as Diarmuid threw Gae Dearg with all of his strength. The red spear flew and destroyed the left arm which was in the way of its flight path, it kept going and impacted straight where the abomination's heart should have been, cracking its armor.

Yu meanwhile surfed along the remaining arm and as he closed in drove Galatine into the shadow's head and pulled it downwards with his momentum, finishing it off once and for all.

As it fell apart Chie's Shadow returned to her original for as a doppelganger of the girl whom she represented.

"It's true." Chie admitted looking at her shadow. "You're me and I'm you."

The shadow smiled and nodded before bursting into a wave of blue flames that surrounded Chie, the girl gasped in surprised and flinched as she felt something connecting itself to her very soul.

A summoning circle formed itself around her and a new form rose. In it appeared a man with long tied back red hair. He also wore traditional Chinese clothing that looked like flames.

"Girl, I am Li Shuwen, the demon fist master" The Persona declared giving off an intimidating aura. "Under the Arcana of the Chariot and the Assassin Class, I now am your Persona. My fists shall crush any who dare stand in your way."

With that declaration, Li Shuwen vanished and in his place appeared a card, on it was a black robed figured wielding a pair of daggers, the figure of an assassin, with the roman numerals for the number seven shining just next to the word ASSASSIN.

"What's this?" The girl asked as the card floated down to Chie's palms and rotated just above them.

"It's a Persona." Yu informed her as Galatine vanished from his hands.

"So this is my..."

"That's right." Yosuke said as Diarmuid propped him up.

"I have….a persona." The card then disappeared into a gentle light, which settled inside of her.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

A little later the group had retreated to the exit near the stack of TVs that lead to the real world. The Personas all stood nearby in spirit form watching over their masters along with Teddie.

"I…..I'm feeling even worse than the last time I came in here." Chie complained, rubbing her eyes and squinting. "My head feels like it's gonna split open... are you guys okay?"

"It's thanks to these." Yu motioned to his glasses.

"That's right, you're not wearing the glasses." Yosuke realized.

"Oh yeah... what's with those glasses? Did your eyesight go bad?"

"Man, you didn't notice until now? How panicked were you?"

"Tum de dummm! I got a pair ready for Chie too. Here you go!" Teddie handed the kung-fu girl a pair of yellow glasses which she took and put on.

"Whoa! What the-!? This is awesome, it's like the fog doesn't exist!"

"Why didn't you whip those out earlier if you had them?"

"I made them right now! You didn't tell me she was coming! It was all so sadden! I mean, sudden!"

"Huh...so that's the trick. I was wondering how you guys could see where you were going. Hey, is it alright if I keep these?"

"Fo' sho!" Teddie confirmed with a grin.

"We'll have to stop here today. But I'll be back with these puppies!" Chie grinned. "You guys better not come here without me, got it?"

"Yeah, let's all promise each other: Nobody goes in alone. It's way too dangerous." Yosuke suggested. "If we don't work together, we won't be able to solve the case or save Yukiko, right?"

"You're right." Yu agreed with a nod.

"Yeah, I agree. I promise too."

"Alright, so from tomorrow on, we'll try and come here as much as we can after school, and that includes days off. Hey... would you mind being our leader? You were the first to get this power, and you're way better in a fight than either of us. I think it's best for all of us if you set the pace of the investigation, and we follow your lead. I'm cool playing second banana."

"Sure, no problem."

"I had a feeling you'd say that. I mean, I'm more the advisor type, you know? An idea man, not an executive."

"I'm with Yosuke. If you're the one calling the shots, I'd feel a lot more comfortable about this."

"I'm with Yosuke too. If you're the one calling the shots, my pillow will be a lot more comfortable at night."

"Teddie, would you please stop talking? I'm really on edge right now..."

At the back of his mind Yu felt something connect to him, while Gawain felt a bit of his power return to him, it wasn't much but it was certainly better than nothing.

"Ok, let's get some rest for today so we're ready for tomorrow." Yosuke suggested. "And don't forget to check the weather forecast. It gets foggy after a lot of rain, so let's keep an eye out."

"Hold on." Yu interrupted. "Before we leave there's one more thing we need to take care of."

"Uh, sure. What is it?" The summoner of Lancer asked.

"You remember what I did in the fight with Chie's shadow, how I borrowed Gawain's sword?" Yu asked the two.

"Yeah what did you call it? Include?"

"That's it; I'm going to teach the both of you how to do it." Yu stated "It's riskier because we can't take as much damage as our Personas can but it saves our energy for the bigger fights. We might have had an easier time if we'd saved our energy for Chie's shadow. If we keep our Personas out too long we get a headache and eventually they'll vanish and we'll be in a tight spot."

"I get it, so if we fight by borrowing our Personas weapons we can save the big guns for major fights. Like Yukiko's shadow, something tells me that we'll be fighting it whether we want to or not." Yosuke commented.

"Alright, first things first, summon your Arcana but don't crush them." Yu instructed the boy and girl who did so. The Cards appeared above their hands, awaiting command. "Now focus on your Personas, then say 'Include' and their name."

"Ok, here goes" Chie took a deep breath "Include... Li Shuwen."

The card in her hand dissolved into blue sparkles which enveloped her body.

"Whoa, I can feel it." Chie gasped, looking at her hands. "It's like I've been doing this all my life!"

"Alright, my turn. Include: Diarmuid!" In Yosuke's hands appeared not one but two spears, one red and the other yellow.

" _Fascinating, it seems Gae Buidhe answered my master's call when it would not for me._ " Diarmuid noted. " _I wonder why…_ "

" _I find myself unable to use my technique 'No Second Strike_ '." Li Shuwen commented. " _That girl can't either, she has my knowledge of martial arts but my more powerful techniques are sealed. Perhaps it is different in your case because neither of your spears require invocation for their abilities to be used?_ "

" _You could be right about that._ " Diarmuid conceded. " _But that does not explain why I could not even summon the spear._ "

" _Well, I get the feeling that we'll find out on this journey one way or another._ " Li Shuwen smirked. " _Either way I sense many strong opponents await us, personally I find myself excited at the prospect of being able to fight again._ "

" _I believe that this Grail War will reveal all in time._ " Gawain put in. " _There is much we do not know, something else besides this war is afoot._ "

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After teaching Chie and Yosuke the Include ability the trio left the TV World and decided to rest at the food court.

Yu stared at Chie as she slumped in her seat; they both sat in silence in the food court. The Saber summoner glanced over to where Yosuke was standing. The boy was currently busy with customers after his father had spotted him and asked him to start helping out.

"He looks kinda busy right now..." Yu said as he tried to start a conversation with Chie.

The short-haired girl didn't say anything for a moment; Yu was about to try and say something else until Chie spoke up.

"I'm so pathetic..." Yu gave Chie a confused look. "The next time it gets foggy over here...it's possible Yukiko will die..." Chie held her drink tightly in her hands, fingers pressing against the thick paper container with enough strength to make dents form. "And... and I won't be able to do anything... useless..."

"You're far from useless, Chie." Yu said, reaching out to the girl.

"When we go back to save Yukiko... we need your help to do it. You're not useless at all." Chie stared at him, her eyes wide; the glassy look in them began to fade as she weakly smiled.

"Thanks." She chuckled and Yu watched as the girl put her hand into her pocket. "You know... in exchange for that, I gotta show you something..."

"What is it?"

"My dog." Chie giggled a bit as she opened her phone and showed it to the boy. "He's a real porker, huh? He stinks like nobody's business too." The picture Chie showed him was of herself and a large dog. The dog's fur was brown and white, and his tongue was hanging out from his mouth as he gave a goofy grin towards the camera. "But if it wasn't for this guy... I may have never met Yukiko. He's the one who made our friendship possible."


	4. Freedom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or Fate or anything in the nasuverse, any resemblance to any other Persona 4/Fate fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only. ******  
> [-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/18 Monday, Velvet Room, Inaba]

School had been cancelled today for some reason that the staff remained tight lipped about. As such Yu Narukami decided to go the Velvet Room and see if Marie wanted to go outside. Sure enough the unfriendly looking girl was surprised to see him at all.

"Huh…? You came. I'm surprised, I didn't think you were interested" The mysterious girl said "Look, I'm sure you already know, but I want you to take me somewhere. It's small, dark and The Nose never says anything. I'm really not supposed to leave the room, but Margaret said it'd be okay if I went with you. I, uh...Well, never mind. So, will you take me somewhere?"

His hunch was correct it seemed that Marie did indeed want to go out. He had agreed to go to rescue Yukiko later this afternoon so he had plenty of time to show Marie around.

"So…..will you take me somewhere?"

"Sure" Yu nodded.

"Really?" her eyes widened apparently she expected him to just ignore her and leave her here, but he was genuinely interested in the girl and wished to know her better. "...Don't you think you're giving in too easily? Well whatever let's get going already."

After exiting the Velvet Room and returning to the real world in the shopping district, Yu decided to begin the tour by going for a stroll through the district and ended up stopping in front of Souzai Daigaku a small store that sold freshly cooked food such as Skewers and croquets.

"Phew. I can finally breath now, it's stuffy in that car" Marie let out a breath of relief "You know there's a lot of stuff that I've never noticed before….. a Steak Skewer?...Hey, lady I want one of those skewer things."

" Oh, hello. That'll be 320 yen, please." The lady's tone was very polite despite Marie's slightly demanding tone.

"Thwee hunnert twin...Bleh. That's hard to say. You can't eat without money?" Marie asked perplexed.

"Don't worry I can pay for it" Yu supressed a chuckle at Marie's difficulty saying numbers.

"You have money!?...That's awesome. You're awesome." Marie looks surprised, although Yu was not sure whether it was because he had money or at the concept of money.

All of a sudden Yosuke showed up coming from the south shopping district.

"Yo Narukami, getting your on huh?" Yosuke greeted cheerfully as Diarmuid appeared in his transparent form.

' _Sir Gawain_ ' Diarmuid greeted the other knight.

' _Sir Diarmuid_ ' Gawain returned the greeting ' _It would seem that my master experiences the dream cycle as if we were master and servant in a Grail War Yet there are no Command Seals and I sense no connection to the Holy Grail almost as if it is not there. Also he asked whether I was alone inside his mind, I feel the presence of another heroic spirit but for all intents and purposes it remains dormant like a statue or someone waiting to be awoken. Nothing I do even stirs the spirit._ '

' _Unusual indeed, if this is a Holy Grail War then why do we lack a connection to it and why restrict us so? Usually we would do battle but these circumstances have us ally with each other. The Grail is necessary for us to maintain our existence along with a prana supply from our master yet we need only the latter to become physical in that other world. The drawback is that we require a steady supply of prana maintain our forms and the longer we do battle more of our masters prana we drain.'_

' _If we are not careful we could leave our masters in a bad situation without the ability to aid them.'_ Gawain nodded ' _but did you notice? After the battle with Chie's shadow? The supply of prana within our master's seemed to grow, if I had to wager a guess I'd say it probably means that we can remain longer, in addition I felt the technique I call Blade of the Devoted return to me, almost as if it had remained out of reach until now.'_

' _Yes I understand what you mean; I felt my skill 'Eye of the Mind' return to me after that battle as well. It would seem that as we defeat these larger shadows our abilities and skills are unlocked. Perhaps at some point even our ultimate Noble Phantasms may return.'_

' _Yes I believe your theory to be sound, but he question is why put us through such a restriction in the first place?_ ' Gawain pondered ' _Would it not be easier if we could fight with all our strength._ '

' _It is indeed a mystery, perhaps to it is do with our master's prana supply being very small at the moment_ ' Diarmuid sugested watching his master as Gawain nodded thoughtfully.

"Hey, don't worry! I got a little extra in my last pay check." Yosuke said with a wink as he chose to stand instead of taking a seat at the table "Three steak skewers! One for each of us."

"Oh my, business is booming!" the Lady at the store grinned "Just a moment, please."

The lady turned her back on the trio, within a few moments she turned back around with three freshly cooked steak skewers and handed them to the three. The three ate their steak skewers together, though for some reason Yosuke chose to remain standing as he ate.

"Whew" Yosuke let out a breath after finishing his skewer "Is that a bellyful or what! This place always has huge portions."

After a few moments of letting his stomach settle after the meal, the boy turned his attention to Marie.

"So, Marie-chan, what do you think of the local specialty?"

"It's really weird. It's tough, hard to bite into, and it got cold while I was still eating it. But it was delicious."

"Oh, uh...That's good...Didn't sound like you liked it at the beginning there." Yosuke said uncomfortably. "But, all's well that ends well!"

"Hey, why's it called steak anyway" Marie asked turning her attention to Yu "Is it short for something?"

"It's short for Beefsteak" the boy replied to the cap wearing girl.

"Beefsteak?...Huh." Marie got lost in thought for a few moments "But if you the word beef from it, you don't get any sense of what it's made of. It should be, like…'Fsteak."

"That's, uh, not much better..." Yosuke said looking unsure "Marie-chan's a strange kid, huh? Well, that makes her cute...I guess?"

"You eat this every day? No fair. I should've come earlier..." Marie complained.

Yu noted that it seemed as though Marie had taken a liking to Steak Skewers, he made a mental note to bring her here again.

"Hey I've been meaning to ask, whose are those guys next you?" Marie asked spontaneously as she pointed to Diarmuid and Gawain the former of whom had a surprised look on his face. Gawain was less surprised as he was aware of the girl's origins in the Velvet Room and the fact that they could see him.

"Wha...…I mean no there's no one there" Yosuke yelled with panic in a poor attempt to hide.

"Yes I can see them, they look ghostly but they're there."

' _I am Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, knight of Fianna at your service_ ' said with uncertainty the knight of the spears was still shocked that he was seen by someone who had not entered the TV World.

' _And I am Gawain, Knight of the Round Table_ '

"Gawain and Diarmuid" Marie spoke the names as if tasting a new food.

' _I may, how is you are able to see us?_ ' Diarmuid queried

"I don't know I just can" Marie shrugged "I think, I'll ask Margaret about it later"

"Margaret is that your sister?" Yosuke asked before beginning to panic as he patted his pocket "Ah crap, I left my key back in my locker at work. I've gotta go back to Junes! See you later, Narukami! You too, Marie-chan!"

' _Farewell to both of you_ ' Diarmuid said giving a slight bow, fading from sight as his master ran off in a panic.

"….Your partner is a funny person" Marie said after a few moments of silence

"That he is." Yu agreed with a nod.

"Hm...But he bought me meat. That makes him a good person. That is a fact." Marie closed her eyes and appeared to keep pondering on Yosuke "Hey, let's go somewhere else. Somewhere with a nice view."

Yu knew exactly where to take her. The pair began walking away from the shopping district and after several times in which he lost Marie the moment he took his eyes off her, Yu managed to bring her to the hill overlooking town.

"Hmmm…..It's really green here." Marie observed

"Green and...green. And some brown and...Darker green? Leaves of green fly away, Farewell to you, clouds of the sky...I fly as well, lost as the day. Farewell to you, moon of the night." Yu could hear Marie murmuring something to herself that seemed to rhyme….a poem perhaps? He even asked if it was.

"N-No! I-I-I wasn't making up a poem! It's just some words that I was thinking! That's all! Yeah!" Marie instantly began blushing and denying everything "ShutupIhateyouyoustupidjerk! D-Don't snoop on me!"

Marie and Yu walked over to a part of the hill that was clear of trees and gave a view of entire town.

"Wow, it's pretty big…." Marie was clearly breath taken by the sight. "I don't know why...but I feel good about this place. It reminds me of something. Are there any other places we can go? I want to see more."

"I'll show you around if you want." Yu offered the girl.

"Please do." Marie replied with a slight smile "I notice a lot of things when I'm with you. It's pretty fun."

Yu could sense that Marie expected something of him. He felt that he understood Marie a bit more now. In the back of his mind the number twenty burned to life as yet another soul connected to him from beyond.

"All right, next! Where to now?"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/18 Monday, TV World, Inaba]

After going to the TV world and returning to Yukiko's castle the team

"Include Li Shuwen" Chie called out as the Chariot Arcana shattered into streams of blue flame that sunk into the girl's flesh.

"Let's go!" Several Lying Hablerie shadows zoomed towards the girl.

She leapt into the air and destroyed one in the centre of the group with a single kick. The remaining three charge at her but she destroyed them by catching one on her leg and slamming it into the other two, destroying all of them simultaneously.

"Sweet moving on" Chie began charging ahead into the castle, the two boys and one bear all ran to keep up with her.

"Chie's really on fire isn't she!" Teddie commented from behind Yosuke.

"Chie, you're just starting to gain your strength! So don't over do it"

"Come on, where are you Yukiko!" Chie tells him as they round a corner and stopped before she took off running again.

"She just blew me off"

"Chie he's right don't overdo it" Yu yelled to the girl following after her.

"I'm fine this is nothing compared to what I usually do!"

"Ah man there's nothing I hate more than getting blown off by a girl" Yosuke complained as Teddie snickered behind him.

"Zip it bear!"

' _My lord perhaps we should focus on our quest and ensure that Ms Chie does not get into trouble again._ ' Diarmuid suggested

"Yeah you're right of course" Yosuke sighed as he followed Yu and Chie down the corridor and up some stairs "I did some research on you, they say that any girl who looked at your face instantly fell in love with you. Man I wish I had an ability like that."

The Knight of the Spears stopped for a second, his beautiful features twisting into ones of sadness and bitterness. Feeling his sudden mood shift through their bond, Yosuke was so surprised that he almost tripped as he turned to look at his Persona.

"You wouldn't say that if you had lived my life, my lord." as he said those words, the Lancer passed one of his hands over his infamous Love Spot, a dark look on his eyes. "This supposed blessing...is nothing but a curse. One that I will bear for eternity." releasing a bitter chuckle, the Hero walked past the still silent Yosuke. "You would maybe get any woman you want if you had this, my lord...but you would never be happy." he glanced back at him, his eyes filled with sadness once again. "Believe me. I know."

Yosuke's fell silent, he felt like a complete ass. He'd only been interested in what Diarmuid could do and had skipped a lot of details. The boy realised that he had no idea what the knight's life had actually been like.

"Yosuke!" Yosuke was shocked out his brooding by Chie's angry voice "Move your ass before I kick it!"

This got Yosuke moving again as he continued climbing up the stairs catching up to to Teddie who'd gotten ahead of him. Eventually Chie and Yu reached near the end of the flight stairs and suddenly the lights turned off, startling all of them to stop just shy of the landing.

"It's darker than black!" Teddie screamed as he began flailing his arms and panicking.

"You mean "pitch black." Yosuke corrected the bear as he and the others all looked around in confusion.

' _At the top of the stairs someone is there_ ' Li Shuwen pointed out.

The teens all looked and could make out a black shape.

"Who is it?" Yosuke squinted trying to see through the darkness to get a better look.

' _Most likely it is…_ 'Diarmuid trailed off

'- _her shadow_ ' Gawain finished narrowing his eyes at the figure.

A pair of spotlights suddenly appeared behind Teddie, a drumroll echoed throughout the area as the lights as they travelled towards the top of the stairs. The drumroll stops as the team found itself staring at someone's turned back. The person has long black hair and was dressed in a pink ball gown.

"Yukiko?!"

"It's not who you think it is," Chie looked at the summoner of Saber in confusion.

The Yukiko look-alike suddenly giggles as a recording of some weird song begins to play as she starts to speak. She holds the mic in her hands as she stares intently on all of them,

" **What's this? Surprise guests?** " She giggled again and curtsied to them, " **Now this is a party** "

The other Yukiko again stared them all before laughing again as she took the mic in one hand and extended her hand out. "I **think it's time. For. Our. Next. Segment!** "

Coloured words suddenly appeared out of thin air after the shadow finished speaking.

**IT'S NOT SCRIPTED! Princess Yukiko's** **Hunt for Her Prince on a White Horse**

"Uh...What's that for?" Teddie asked as sound of a cheering audience played in the background.

"Looks like a title screen," Yosuke answered.

"Yeah it does"

"Alright that's it who are you?!" Chie demanded

' _We're you not paying attention?'_ Li Shuwen admonished _'she is Yukiko's other self_ '

"Sorry" Chie mumbled to her Persona apologetically, one of the first things he'd taught her while in the real world was to always pay attention to her surroundings.

" **How could you ask that? Such a silly question!** " the princess replied with a giggle while speaking into the microphone " **I am Yukiko and Yukiko is me.** "

"NO!" Chie's denied loudly her yell echoing through the room "You're not her...I want the real Yukiko, NOW!"

Yukiko's shadow ignored Chie's outburst before giggling again.

" **Alrighty, well it's time for me to resume my stud hunt! Princey boy…ready or not here I come!** " The shadow made a gun sign with her hand and a gunshot sounded from somewhere as she span around giggling loudly as she ran off into the darkness which causing Chie to immediately give chase.

"Move outta of our way!" Chie yells as more Shadows began to swarm around them as they climbed the stairs and reached the landing where Yukiko's other self formerly stood.

The meat loving girl leapt into battle destroying Hablerie while Yu and Yosuke followed suit and included their own Persona's focusing on the Black Raven shadows which were flying around.

After destroying them all they gave chase to Yukiko's other self and found themselves ascending a very long set of stairs, fending off shadows that descended from above. Thankfully for some reason the Persona users were capable of less impressive but equally super human feats that their Persona's were such as being able to jump long distances.

"So that princess we saw before was…" Yosuke's voice rings out as Yu skips up a few steps to try and keep up with Chie as Teddie gives a noise of confirmation,

"Like Gawain and Diarmuid said it was definitely that girls other self for sure!" The bear confirmed as Yu and Yosuke leapt up to meet the Hablerie shadows in mid air and destroyed them rapidly as the came before landing higher up on the stairs.

"I knew it! There was something off about her when she was on the Midnight Channel!" he exclaims as Yu ran along a wall and jumped off it slashing a shadow in mid air and landing on the higher stairs opposite "Yukiko would never say she was doing something like 'stud hunting.'"

"Wait, 'stud hunting?' Why would she wanna hunt horses for?" Yosuke shook his head.

"I'll explain later!"

' _I cannot help but wonder what form her shadow will take when it goes berserk_ ' Li Shuwen said aloud

"Whaddya mean when?"

"Yosuke I think it's pretty much a given that she'll deny it, like you and Chie did"

"Gah…good point" the spear wielding boy was forced to concede.

"Guys! I can sense two people behind that door and one of them is that girls shadow." Teddie yells as they spot a large door as they finally reached the top.

The team all immediately burst through the door, they saw that they were in the apparent throne room of the castle, and sure enough standing in front of the throne at the top of long staircase leading up by a red carpet, was Shadow Yukiko, and at the bottom wearing her pink kimono with a birdcage at her feet, was Yukiko. The one they had come to save.

"Yukiko!" Chie calls for her friend as she looks from her other self to the team. "Chie!"

" **My, my** " the voice of Shadow Yukiko cuts off both of the girls before they begin to speak, " **Five prince's showed up and a knight in shining armour too! It must be my lucky day...Whatever shall I do?** "

' _So even shadows can perceive us in spirit form_ ' Diarmuid noted

'Unsurprising,

"I'm...feeling some serious tension in the air here..." Yosuke shuddered as the shadow's gaze fell on him.

" **Hey I wanna go somewhere, somewhere far away. Where nobody knows me!** " Shadow Yukiko clasped her hands together and stared at them, her gold eyes half closed and a smile playing on her lips. It tried to appear bashful but the high pitched voice didn't fit the face. " **Please Prince Charming take me away. What are you waiting for?** "

"Hold on...You said 'five princes,' does that include me?"

"It's beary clear I'm the fifth prince!" Teddie said rebuking Chie.

"Oh please. Keep dreamin' bear!" Yosuke scoffed.

**Chie come you are obviously my prince!** " the shadow replied a wide grin on her face, " **You always lead the way, you make a brave and magnificent prince...At least, you did.** "

"I did?'" Chie's questioned as the smile fell off the Shadows face.

" **See I'm through with you now** "

Suddenly the chandelier began falling from the ceiling, it was too fast and Chie was frozen in place seemingly unable to move. Yu ran for her hoping to push her out of the way when Margaret's voice echoed in his head once again.

" _You have established new bonds and obtained new Arcana. You possess the power to wield multiple Persona. It is the Wild Card, O Chosen One_."

"Chosen one? Ok, Persona" Yu felt his bond with Chie calling out to him, so he reached for it "Cu Chulainn" He crushed the card and out a swirl of blue flames appeared a tall, red-eyed, with man with dark blue hair pulled back into a ponytail, wearing blue body suit.

"In a bit of trouble lassie?" Cu Chulainn chuckled leaping next to Chie and catching the chandelier with his spear and holding it for a few moments "Here I think is YOURS!"

The Hound of Ulster manoeuvred his spear until it was at an angle and then using all his might he sent the chandelier flying back at the princess, it crashed just a few steps shy of her throne.

"Thanks for the save"

"No problem lassie, but you might wanna start focusing." The blue spearman chuckled "I doubt she's gonna go easy on us, which is just fine by me, I love a good fight."

" **Chie let me down** " the shadow continued as the chandelier raised itself out of the stairs and into the air again. " **She won't take me away, she won't save me!** "

"Stop it already!" Yukiko yells again, "That's enough!" The raven-haired girl let out a gasp as the chandelier swung past her again.

Diarmuid who Yosuke has summoned jumped from the ground and grabbed hold of the chandelier and trying to stop it only to get pinned into the wall. The Knight struggled against the metal but was unable to break free.

"Go help him"

"Right" the Lancer jumped over to the Chandelier and landed on it looking down at Diarmuid with a cheeky smile "You look like you're in a tight spot, need a hand?"

"Just be silent and help me" Diarmuid glared at the other Lancer who simply chuckled as he began using Gae Bolg as a lever to try and pry the chandelier off of the knight of Fianna.

Yukiko froze in place, her hands clasped in front of her as her eyes are closed as she whimpers in shame.

" **Historical inn? Inn keeper training?!** " The Shadow's words finally get a reaction out of Yukiko. " **I'm absolutely sick of being stuck there!** "

"Damn it all" Chie yelled and kicked her Arcana summoning Li Shuwen "Persona"

Her Persona leapt up towards the shadow only to get caught by the dark red carpet along with Chie and Teddie.

"Ahhh!"

"Grizzly!"

" **I never asked to be born here, where everything has been decided for me until I die**." the Shadow began raising her voice getting more and more agitated "I **don't want it! I DON'T WANT ANY OF IT!** "

"We gotta help her," Yu and Yosuke begin to get up from the floor. They both grunted as heat washed over them and they turn to see the flames of the candles in the chandelier grow. Yu could see Cú Chulainn still trying to free Diarmuid as the other Lancer Persona begins to struggle harder.

The wax of the thick hot wax preventing them from moving.

"Damnit! What is this crap?!" Yosuke yelled struggling to break free from the wax

In front of them Chie was struggling against the red carpet as Li Shuwen was doing the same, however it seemed that the carpet was sturdier than he gave it credit for as it resisted his attempts at removing it by cushioning the blows.

"Yukiko! " Her pleas fall on deaf ears as Yukiko continues to stare up at her Shadow which was making its way down the stairs despite some of them being trashed, finally the princess stopped at the bottom of the stairs

"None of this is true" Yukiko said weakly as she fell to her knees

The Shadow smirked and held her hands together as she stared up at the ceiling.

" **I just wanna go far away** " she sighs, " **I want to go anywhere, but here. I want someone to whisk me away. I can't leave on my own...** "

The Shadow's voice gets higher in pitch, her words and movements resemble that of a typical princess that desperately want to be rescued.

"Stop it, please stop it" Yu tugged at his legs, trying to break free as Yukiko shook her head in denial

" **But I lack hope if I stay and I the courage to leave...That's why I've been waiting."** Shadow Yukiko continues to taunt as her eyes open and she gazes down at Yukiko, " **Someday my Prince will come. He'll come and take me some place far away from here!** "

"I'm begging, stop." Yukiko's voice trembled as her Shadow began speaking out loud more o her deepest private thoughts.

" **An old tradition? The pride of the town? SCREW IT ALL!** "

Yukiko gasped and snapped her head to meet the shadows eyes.

"How dare you say that!" Yukiko slowly got to her feet as her Shadow chuckled.

" **But that's how I feel. It's what we both feel, isn't that right….other me?** "

"No…it isn't! You are not..." Yukiko shook her head in denial, her anger beginning to build.

"Yukiko"

"Don't say it." Chie yelled as she struggled to break free from the carpet that bound her.

Yu struggled even harder as he tried to break out of the wax only which cooled and become solid.

"You're a liar!" Yukiko points to her other self, "You're not me!"

There is a pause and soon a faint light of red and black begin to form at the bottom of Shadow Yukiko's ball gown as she lifts her arms up with a smile growing wider on her face.

**"Oh my, my. Ah...And the power starts to surge,** " she giggles as she laughs louder as the light grew, " **Now if things continue at this pace then...Ah ha ha ha ha!** "

A car sized ship with some parts of the deck engulfed in flames along with burning sails descended from the ceiling; the figurehead looked like princess Yukiko except it was covered by chains.

" **I am a shadow…of your true inner self** " the shadow's sails seemed to flare like a bird flaring its wings threateningly.

Yukiko began taking slow steps as she backed away from her shadow in fear, however before she could run the bird cage that lay on the floor began hover and expanded to entrap the girl. A rope suddenly hooked around the top of the cage and lifted into the air dangling near the burning mast, hot enough to make Yukiko very uncomfortable but not enough to kill her.

"Yukiko!" Chie called out to her trapped friend "Let me GO!"

Li Shuwen closed his in concentration for a moment before tearing apart the cloth that bound him and his master.

"Man….this is….really…..IN THERE!" Cu Chulainn growled as he finally got the chandelier out of the wall sending it crashing off to the side freeing Diarmuid.

"I gotcha Yukiko, whatever she throws out I can take in more" Chie stated confidently.

" **Oh really?** " the shadow asked as the flames on its mast began flaring causing Yukiko to cough at the smoke that it caused " **Then I'll just have to hit you WITH EVERYTHING I'VE GOT!** "

A roaring wave of flames was sent at the team Chie cover her face as the heat fo the flames got closer, Li Shuwen managed to separate the flames apart, thus preventing them from incinerating his master.

Both the hound of Ulster and Knight of Fianna used their respective spears to block the majority of the flames that came at their masters; however a stray shot scorched Yosuke's trouser leg causing him to jump up and down clutching the afflicted area.

"Yeow…that burns, easy on the fiery burny stuff Yukiko." Yosuke yelled

"Yosuke lets go" Yu ordered kicking himself free of the wax that once held him.

"Get her Diarmuid"

"At once" the knight leapt at the ship like shadow along with Cu Chulainn.

Diarmuid dug Gae Dearg in and slashed the deck as hard he could making a large gash in it.

"What?" the knight was shocked as the pieces of wood that he shattered to make the hole simply stopped in mid air and flew back to the gash sealing it up. "It can regenerate? But how?"

"Whats the matter Diarmuid having performance issues?" the hound teased "Don't worry happens to everybody, well not me of course but-"

"Will you just shut up?" Diarmuid snapped loosing his composure for second before regaining it. "I'd like to see you do better."

"Watch and learn" the hound grinned and using his spear to remove a large chunk of the ships starboard side making a hole the size of a car wheel. "See easy as…"

His victory was short lived however as the chunk that was removed returned to its place and the cracks made vanished, once again the ship looked undamaged by the assault. "Son of a-"

"Now who's having performance issues?"

"Shaddap"

"My turn!" the two watched Li Shuwen land on the deck and began rapidly punching holes in the deck speeding along it from stem to stern. Within seconds pretty every plank had a fist sized hole in it.

However neither the speed nor power of the attacks stopped the holes from regenerating.

"Hmmm….that will get very annoying very quickly." Li Shuwen noted.

" **I think you have other problems to worry about right now"** the shadow said as the sound of wooden panels and the movement of heavy metal was heard.

"Oh shit she has cannons!" Cu Chulainn shouted and jumping off the deck and dashing back to his master, with the other two personas following suit.

The cannons erupted and fired at the three humans, thankfully their personas made it just in time to deflect the cannon fire. The two Lancers deflected the cannonballs easily albeit the Hound of Ulster had an easier time thanks to his Protection From Arrows skill. Li was able to deflect the as swiftly as they came.

"Yukiko! I'm on my way!" Chie yelled running towards the caged girl when the cannon fire stopped, but she was smacked away by the anchor sending her flying away from Yukiko.

**"Too bad, I though Chie would save me but... Chie didn't save me. She wasn't my prince at all! I've waited for so very...very, long!"** The sound of anger was present and she fired all of her cannons squarely at Chie.

It was clear that Li Shuwen would not be able to stop them all so Yu motioned towards Chie at his Persona who the message and leapt to aid the assassin. Together the two of them were easily able to save the meat loving girl from the bombardment.

"Thank you for the aid normally I would relish a strong opponent like this but these restrictions are annoying."

"No problem, I'm running on a limited prana supply so I know how ya feel."

"You right maybe Chie isn't your prince, is it really all that important!?" Chie turned to Yu, seeing it was him who spoke up.

**"What?"**

"Chie came here and risked her life to save Yukiko. I think that's pretty good proof that she really does care. What more could she have done!?"

"Narukami…"

**"I... I've heard enough!"** The flames got even stronger Chie stood up and walked slowly towards Yukiko.

"Yukiko, I have to tell you something and it's very important." The fire around her intensified but she stood her ground.

"This isn't easy; see the truth is, I've always been jealous of you. You had everything Yukiko and I had nothing. That's why I loved how you depended on me. You actually needed something that I had. I liked that the way that I needed to be there to protect you. It gave me a purpose."

**"Exactly, I can do anything on my own, I'm helpless!"**

"That's not true! Yukiko, you are one of the strongest people that I know. You want to escape then do it! Leave and go wherever you want! I know you can do this."

"You're wrong Chie I can't." Yukiko closed her tear filled eyes and dipped her head in shame. "I'm far too weak to leave."

The shadow wasn't even attacking them as it listened to the conversation between Yukiko and Chie even as Diarmuid, Cu Chulainn and Li Shuwen smashed at its main wooden body which regenerated in seconds. In fit of frustration Cu Chulainn swung his spear trying to damage the ship more and as he swung he put a noticeable cut in the figurehead, this caused the shadow to grunt and regenerate the wound quicker than any of the other damage done to it. Yuu narrowed his eyes and the cogs in his mind began to turn.

"I'm not strong enough…I am weak and pathetic; I'm such a horrible coward, I waited on someone else to set me free"

"So what!? You were scared!" Chie started coughing as she fell to her knees. "There are parts of me, that I'm not really proud of either. Horrible things that I'm really ashamed of, they don't matter! Listen, I'll always be there for you. That's a promise!"

"Chie..."

" **Stop it!** " the flames on the shadow flared in response to its angry yell " **I SAID STOP!** "

Yukiko got up and clutched on to the bars of the cage and broke through, Chie caught her as she fell through and was caught by Chie, the two of them hugged like nothing else existed in that moment.

"Thank you..."

" **NO!** " the shadow bellowed in rage as blue static danced across its body as the flames began to dim.

"The shadow's growing weak now" Teddie yelled.

"Alright, Diarmuid let' g-"

"Wait!" Yu ordered stopping Yosuke "Li Shuwen, Cu Chulainn, Diarmuid come over here I have an idea."

The persona's all looked at each other before shrugging and leaping over to Yu along with Yosuke who jogged over.

"Dude what's this idea you've got?" he asked "Do you know how to destroy it?"

"I do" Yu nodded getting a couple of raised eyebrows

"And how do you propose we do it?" Diarmuid asked politely "None of the damage we do lasts because it's cursed ability to regenerate. If only I had access to Gae Buidhe I could inhibit such an ability."

"It's simple do you remember when you were attack the shadow before Yukiko broke free from the cage? You got frustrated and swung your spear around to make a large hole in the deck right?"

"Yeah but the damn thing just healed it like before." The hound of ulster replied.

"Yes but as you were swinging your spear, you cut the figurehead and when you did that shadow grunted like you'd hurt it and that cut healed faster than the other damage you'd done which it never responded to, almost as if it couldn't feel the damage there."

"Wait do you mean, that figurehead is the weak spot?" Diarmuid yelled turning around to look at the ship which sent some flames to incinerate Chie and Yukiko which he quickly leapt over and deflected.

"Yes and I think I know how to beat it now." YU raised his voice so Diarmuid could hear him "Diarmuid get onto the deck and do as much damage as you can as quickly as you can. Smash the cannons especially."

"Very well" Diarmuid looked to Yosuke who nodded in consent and the knight set to work relentlessly assaulting the ship, smashing the mast and putt many holes in the deck and crumpling the cannons.

"Li Shuwen, you get up to the figurehead, tear right off and throw it as far away from the ship as you can, then help Diarmuid in damaging the body."

"I like this idea" Li Shuwen jumped to the ship and began setting to work, he got behind the figurehead and began pulling, the wood began creaking as if bone was being bent and snapped.

" **GET OFF!** " the shadow screamed in protest as cracks began appearing where its body was attached to the ship. " **IT HURTS LET GO OF ME YOU BASTARD LET GO LET GO LET GOOOO!** " The screaming only seemed to encourage the martial artist who began pulling harder causing the shadows screams to get louder.

"Alright Cu Chulainn when that figure is in the air use your spear and strike it in the heart" Yu ordered.

"I get it, most of its energy has to be stored in that big body and that takes longer to regenerate because the figurehead is its heart." The spearman grinned as he heard the shadow scream again and looked to see Li Shuwen had torn the figurehead off, it seemed even be bleeding and a misty trail followed it as it was tossed into the air. "Well that's my cue."

The blue spearman of the wind leapt into the air with inhuman ability and twirled his spear in anticipation as he closed in on the figurehead which panicked upon seeing him approaching.

" **NO STAY BACK!** " it screamed in panic " **GET AWAY FROM ME!** "

"Oh quit your whining it'll be over in a sec" the hound grinned "GAE BOLG!"

Destiny was rewritten, it was changed from 'the spear struck so the heart was pierced' to 'the heart is pierced, so the spear must have struck'. But it wasn't over, even with his spear in the shadows heart the Hound decided he wasn't finished just yet.

"Alright Lassie, it's time to go back where ya came from."

The shadow screamed as the spearman pushed his weight into the spear and slammed the shadow into the wall. With great speed and landed on it and began running up it, dragging the shadow's figurehead along wall causing it scream in protest as it seemed to be coming apart, unable to heal all of the damage done it.

Meanwhile down below Li Shuwen grinned and got an idea he grabbed the mast and turned it upside down and impaled it through the deck of the ship and chopped at the break so it was sharpened. He whistled up to the Hound of Ulster and motioned to the makeshift pike he had made and received a vicious grin in return.

Finally Cu Chulainn had made it to the ceiling and was now directly above the ship.

"Alright lass our times up, but I sincerely hope that you've learned your lesson and that you're _sharp_ enough for this _point_ to be driven home." The blue spearman quipped before letting himself fall and spun in the air before tossing the shadow off his spear and down towards the ship. "Look out below!" The two personas below leapt off the deck just in time for the figurehead which was screaming all the while to impale itself face first on the sharpened mast before the force of its impact destroyed the ship completely.

There was a flash of blue light and when the smoke cleared princess Yukiko had reappeared.

"Was that overly violent display necessary?" Diarmuid asked of his fellow Lancer when he landed.

"No, it was fun though." Cu Chulainn replied unrepentantly sharing a grin with Li Shuwen who returned it.

"I think we shall get along famously Hound of Ulster" Li Shuwen laughed.

"Chie" Yukiko called out to her friend who was looking down in shame.

"I'm so sorry Yukiko, I was so wrapped up in my own stuff, that I didn't even notice all the stuff that was bothering you, and I really should have."

"I didn't notice the things that were bothering you either, I just wanted to escape. You see, that's why I created you." Yukiko looked towards her shadow and grabbed its hands with her own. "You're right, I did just want to leave and escape. I'm sorry I didn't acknowledge your voice before. It's true; it's how I felt deep inside." She then pulled her shadow into a hug. "You are a part of me."

Her shadow nodded before bursting into a wave of blue flames that surrounded Yukiko, she flinched as she felt something connecting itself to her very soul.

A summoning circle formed itself around her and a new form rose. In it appeared a female pirate captain with long wavy crimson pink hair, blue eyes and scar across her face. She wears brown choker collar almost attach to her dark pink captain vest that shows her breasts, white pants, and long dark brown boots.

"So you're the lassie who summoned me eh?" the woman looked at Yukiko who only nodded wordlessly "The name's Francis Drake, Pirate Mercenary at your service." The woman persona gave off a rather relaxed aura, also she had the scent of the ocean as well as alcohol "Under the Arcana of the Priestess and in the Rider Class, I'm your Persona."

"Persona" Yukiko turned the word over in her mouth as if tasting something.

"Heh, don't worry pretty lass! With me at your side, you will know what fun and freedom truly mean in this world" These words seemed cause Yukiko to brighten up, to be free was what she truly wanted. It wasn't the Inn that was the problem it was the fact that it had been decided for her that she would take over the inn.

' _And we have a mangy alcoholic sea dog join the ranks_ ' the familiar voice sneered haughtily ' _Truly you are desperate if your recruitment bar is this low._ '

'Gawain did you hear that?' Yu asked his persona by thought.

'My King I am afraid I heard nothing other than the others out there talking' Gawain replied

"Hey do I smell booze?" the Hound of Ulster asked without shame.

"Why do you ask?" Francis Drake asked with a smirk "Got a problem with a girl who drink most men under the table?"

"Is that a challenge?"

"If you think you can hold yer liquor"

"Oh it is on" Cu Chulainn clenched his fist in determination "We're so having a contest and I'll win lassie you can bet on that."

"Haha this I cannot wait to see." Drake laughed "Well then I look forward to it, till later hound dog."

With one final laugh Francis Drake vanished leaving an Arcana Card in her place which drifted to Yukiko who held it close to her where it sunk into her very being.

"Yukiko!" Chie ran to Yukiko caught her just before she collapsed.

"Are you alright?" Yu asked as he and Yosuke ran up to Yukiko.

"Yes, I'm just a little tired…You all came to rescue me…?"

"Of course!"

"Thank you…" Yukiko smiled at the group.

"So…whose the grizzly that dumped you here in the first place?" Teddie asked as he walked up to Yukiko.

"Who are you?...what are you?" Yukiko asked in confusion

"I'm beary much a bear!" Teddie chirped.

"I'm, sorry I'm not sure I'm following"

"See that everything you do causes confusion." Yosuke berated the bear as Diarmuid returned to spirit form along with Cu Chulainn and Li Shuwen. "So just zip it would ya."

"Your oppression is unbearable" Teddie yelled at Yosuke angrily.

"Anyways!" Chie interrupted. "Let's hurry back home, Yukiko looks exhausted."

"Yeah you're right let's go"

"WWWHAAAT!" Teddie exclaimed. "You guys are just gonna abandon me?!"

"Abandon you? What're you talking about? Don't you live here." Yosuke looked questioningly at Teddie.

"Well…yeah, but…" Teddie frowned.

"I'm sorry, Teddie…" Yukiko said apologetically a she walked over to Teddie. She placed her hand on his head and started petting his soft, blue fur. "I promise to come again… So be a good boy and wait here until then…"

"R-Raaaawr!" Teddie closed his eyes and smiled.

"Let's just get out of here…" Yosuke sighed. "I'm dead on my feet here."

"Yeah see a next time Teddie" Yu called to the bear as everyone made their way to the exit and back home.

As they left Teddie behind and prepared to escort Yukiko home In the back of his mind Yu felt the number two burn to life as another soul connected to him from beyond.


	5. Would you love me?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or Fate or anything in the nasuverse, any resemblance to any other Persona 4/Fate fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.**

**AN: Shout out and big thanks to SaintinfernalNeos who did the Margaret Slink scene and helped out with the Adachi Scene.**

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_Meat and wine adorned the table between rows of brilliant and shining candlesticks. In the large Midcuart banquet hall, the Erin nobles were gathered. Now is the climax. On this day, the boasting and drinking contests of ruffians were strictly forbidden. This evening, the uncultured warriors were drunk solely with the fragrance of a graceful flower._

This was a feast for loving the flower. Grainne, the daughter of the High King of Ireland, Cormac mac Airt.

"Fionn mac Cumhaill hero of Ireland, leader of the knights of Fianna and my daughter Grainne are pleased to announce their engagement." The High King announced loudly "Everyone, this night I want you to celebrate!"

Her betrothed was to be Cumhaill's son, Fionn mac Cumhaill, the great warrior who controlled the healing water. Unmatched under the heavens, he was the head of Fianna, a group of knights. The warrior's strength and fame rivalled the High King's. There was no marriage engagement as joyful as this.

Or so it would seem, Fionn old enough to be Grainne's grandfather could see the loveless look and lack of joy in her eyes. Grainne's eyes were fixed on another; Fionn followed her vision to a particular man and jealousy burned in his heart, his wife to be was clearly infatuated.

'That striking man with the mole beneath his eye, what is his name?' She wondered to herself 'He is a knight of Fianna, Diarmuid Ua Dubhine'

"Diarmuid" she muttered under her breath.

For a time it seemed as if she was trapped in her loveless soon to be marriage until she could take it no longer and approached the man that captivated her so.

"In exchange for my love, accept the Geis. My dear, by any possible means, annul this abominable marriage. Please take me away … to the ends of the earth!"

Appealing to him in tears, the eyes of the maiden flared earnestly with love. They could become the flames of Purgatory, burning him to ashes …

The hero understood. Yet, he did not refuse. The weight of a Geis, which tested his honour, and the path of a loyal subject, which he followed—he wondered which was more precious? No questioning or self-struggling yielded an answer. The thing which finally spurred him, a reason without any relation whatever, with his pride.

Upon his acceptance of the Geis the princess kissed the hero in sight of all the knights of Fianna, including the aging captain Fionn, who was enraged.

"Traitor, you shall suffer for this Diarmuid" he declared

"Take me with you" Grainne pleaded "We must run away"

Hero and princess, together they held hands and turned from their brilliant futures, running from the castle together. Even as the Knights of Fianna pursued them and attempted to slay Diarmuid who struck them all down, regret staining every blow he made against his former friends.

Eventually after years in hiding Diarmuid entered the room of their hiding place with news for his wife.

"Rejoice Grainne, Fionn has recognised our marriage." Diarmuid proclaimed causing his wife to smile with joy.

Diarmuid and Grainne lived in peace at Ceis Chorainn for several years. They had five children: four sons and a daughter. Diarmuid had a fort built, which they called Rath Grainia. However, they went for years without visiting Grainne's father Cormac Mac Art and Diarmuid's former comrades. So Grainne persuaded Diarmuid to invite them to a feast, including Fionn and the Fianna.

One night, Fionn invited Diarmuid on a boar hunt on the heath of Benn Gulbain, Diarmuid only took his short sword Begallta and his yellow spear, Gae Buidhe, not his best weapons: his long sword Móralltach and red spear, Gae Dearg. He was badly gored by a giant boar. The boar had already killed a number of warriors and hounds. Water drunk from Fionn's hands had the power of healing, but when Fionn gathered water he would deliberately let it run through his fingers before he could bring it to Diarmuid.

"Did you believe that I'd forgotten what happened with Grainne?" he sneered as Diarmuid passed away from his wound; his last thoughts were cursing the Love Spot which was the cause of all this ruin.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/19 Tuesday, Class 2-2, Yasogami High School, Inaba]

As he was experiencing these strange dreams of a life that was not his own, a loud voice interrupted Yosuke's pre-lunch nap.

"HANAMURA!" Morooka bellowed down the sleeping boy's ear causing him to wake.

"NO, DAMN YOU CAPTAIN BASTARD!" Yosuke shouted as startled awake causing a deathly silence to befall the class, several students and even King Moron was stunned for few moments before he became enraged.

"YOU ARE ON MY SHIT LIST AGAIN HANAMURA!" Morooka yelled with fury.

"Crap, sir I can explain-" Yosuke flinched when he realised where he was and how much trouble he was in after saying what he'd said out loud.

"NO EXCUSES YOU'RE-" However before Morooka could finish berating the boy the bell rang signalling the start of lunch.

"Grr….saved by the bell but don't think this is over Hanamura, detention after school boy. GOT THAT?!"

"Yes sir" Yosuke groaned slumping onto his desk as King Moron stormed off to get lunch, the whole class continued to stare at Yosuke for what felt like an eternity before slowly trickling out to lunch, all murmuring about Yosuke the subject being whether he was really brave or really stupid for yelling at King Moron like that.

"Should we?" Chie looked at Yu for guidance.

"Let's just leave him be." Yu said standing up and heading to the roof to share his homemade burgers with Chie.

"Aw man" Yosuke groaned unable to process what just happened.

One second he dreaming about Diarmuid's life then he was getting chewed out by King Moron. He took out some sandwiches and started eating them as he thought with depression about what happened waving off Diarmuid who worriedly asked if he was alright.

It wasn't so much that he got detention, as it was that he now knew what Diarmuid had gone through. He was a loyal knight who was basically forced to choose between his loyalty and his honour. He was doomed no matter what happened and ultimately chose his honour which in Diarmuid's time meant everything as an honourless knight was basically trash.

Seeing it through Diarmuid's own eyes Yosuke could see that his Persona's life was one tragedy and misfortune after another and his ultimate death caused by his own captain allowing him to die happened because the Love Spot had enchanted Grainne and caused her to cast Geis (which was like an unbreakable oath or something) on him in the first place.

This was the cause of Yosuke's current self loathing state; he'd selfishly envied Diarmuid's ability to woo any woman he wanted without even thinking the spear wielding Persona himself felt. Now he had seen Diarmuid's life or parts of it anyway he felt like a complete asshole, so deep in his self loathing and tiredness was he that he barely noticed when the bell rang signalling the end of lunch as students began filing back in for class.

"Man Narukami you are a master chef, those burgers were delicious they so juicy. Where'd you learn to cook like that?" Chie asked excitedly as she came in with Yu.

"Well I spent a lot of time on my own when I was young so I had to learn to cook for myself and microwave meals weren't always appetising." Yu replied as he took his seat.

"Oh by the way I talked to Yukiko and she's still run down because of everything that happened so she'll taking a few days off before coming be back to school," Chie explained.

"That's good to hear." Yu said.

"I feel so much better now that Yukiko's safe, it's like we can finally get back to a normal routine again," Chie said.

' _I would not rest on your laurels if I were you._ ' Li Shuwen admonished as he appeared in spirit form beside her. ' _There is still the matter of who threw Yukiko into the TV World in the first place and who their next victim will be.'_

"Plus you are way too perky right now." Yosuke whined secretly wishing to take his mind off his self loathing "Narukami and me have been running ourselves ragged for what seems like forever. Haven't we bro?"

"No I feel pretty good."

"WHAT?!"

"Wow, you held up pretty well through all this. Do you play a lot of sports?" Chie asked Yu.

"No not really" Yu denied as Yosuke complained in the background.

"Well if you haven't signed up for a club or a team I could really use your help with something." Chie requested

"Sure why not." Yu agreed seeing no reason to refuse his friends request.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/19 Monday, Gym, Yasogami High School, Inaba]

After school, Chie had led Yu to the gym. In there were boys playing basketball. Yu recognised Ichijou, as Yosuke had called him, who had asked him about joining the basketball team not long ago was dribbling the ball, being guarded by another boy with a Band-Aid across the bridge of his nose and wearing soccer uniform underneath the basketball practice jersey.

"Ichijo, hey!" Chie called out the boy dribbling turned around and saw Yu with Chie. He passed the ball to another player and told them to take five before running over to Yu and Chie.

"Oh hey Chie the boy greeted her with what Yu observed to be a bit more enthusiasm than normal. " So what brings you here did you need something?

"I came here to bring you a new teammate." Chie answered motioning a hand at Yu who was a little surprised.

"Hey you're that new guy aren't you?" Ichijo remembered with a smile "You did show up."

"Only because Chie asked me" Yu explained but realised that Ichijo didn't seem to be listening "I'm just here to watch..."

"My name's Kou Ichijo" he introduced himself

"Hey I'm with the soccer team, my name's Nagase Daisuke." The soccer boy said coming over and introducing himself "I came here to ditch practice and Ichijo and I go way back."

"I thought you weren't ditching practice but helping these guys out since they're short on members?" Chie asked raising an eyebrow at Daisuke who nodded sheepishly.

"Yeah see they're about to shut our team down since we're way low on players." Ichijou explained "So we'd love to have a new recruit dude."

"I don't know joining sports teams hasn't gone well for me in the past." Yu said thinking back on several incidents where in previous schools when he joined sports teams the others tended to play cruel pranks on him for being a 'loner'. It had gotten so bad that he just avoided sports teams altogether.

"Please, we really need your help man even I swear whatever it was like in the past it won't be like that here." Kou pleaded holding his hands out in a begging position. "I'm begging you even if it's only for a little while."

' _It doesn't feel like the guys got any ulterior motive_ ' Cu Chulainn said appearing in spirit form ' _And the rest of these goons look like they'd wet themselves at the sight of an angry cat I think your safe with this team at least.'_

"I guess I can play for a bit." Yu finally relented with a sigh but not before silently vowing to pay Chie back for pressuring him into this.

"Yes! Thanks you won't regret this I swear" Ichijo excitedly ran and gathered up the team as well as the girl sitting to the side.

"We've got a new temp team member" Kou announced with Yu standing beside him "His name's Narukami be good to him." Ichijo elbowed Yu encouraging him to speak up.

"Happy to help out…" Yu said without enthusiasm, even if he agreed to help out he still didn't want to be here. His past experiences had made him averse to sports teams but, if the Hound of Ulster thought there was no ulterior motive he could give it another chance.

"Thanks man." They all chanted back equally as unenthusiastic as he was. Yu got the impression they weren't here because they entirely wanted to be either.

"Where did everybody else go?" Ichijo asked with dismay at releasing that several other players were missing.

"They all bailed dude" One player said.

"We wanted to work on rebounds but they said they were all tired and left." Another explained.

"Again?" Kou groaned hanging his head before realising that he forgot something. "Oh sorry I almost forgot this is our manager Ai Ebihara." Ichijo motioned to the girl with long, wavy blonde hair who gave Yu and look that told him she thought of him as just another typical guy.

"Typically I'm not even here, so don't go asking for any favours ok?" she stated making it evident that she could care less about the team.

"Hmph! I'm done for today." Ebihara stated heading for the door.

"Hey but we still have to clean up the place." Kou objected.

"Not my problem." She called back as she left.

Seeing this, the other players left as well each giving their own excuses not to have a reason to hang around, despite Kou's imploring them to stay he was left feeling very dejected.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/19 Monday, Velvet Room, Inaba]

After helping Kou clean up Yu left and decided to head to the Velvet Room before going home.

When he entered the boy's eyes wandered through the inside of the strange limousine with surprise. It was the first time that he had come and the slightly sinister but reliable figure of Igor WASN'T there, neither Marie's usual disinterested/annoyed look.

But the third, and perhaps most mysterious, occupant of the room was still in there, reading silently the strange book that he knew recorded the stats and the info of his Personas' abilities.

With a polite smile, Margaret raised her gaze towards his, nodding towards the boy with slight surprise.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room. Sadly, my Master isn't here at the moment, and Marie is busy with a minor task..." the woman slowly closed her book, her smile turning more mysterious. "But...is it said that Fate always has a reason for doing this. Seeing as this room is tied to yours, it's only natural to think that there is a reason for you and me meeting like this."

"You...really think so?" muttered Yu with a raised eyebrow, the usual whispers of his Personas' voices having disappeared from his mind, something very unusual.

"Indeed." nodded the woman while tilting her head. "Tell me...could you perhaps share some of your knowledge with me?" at Yu's confused stare, Margaret decided to elaborate. "I have been reading your Compendium since your journey began, and I have to say I'm fascinated. The abilities and way in which your Personas are recorded in it is totally different at the ones my siblings have worked with before. Even so, I find myself intrigued, because the powers of these...'Heroes' of yours, lack a tale. I can see their prowess and abilities, even partial information of their legendary marks and weapons, but I have not heard their stories. I think it's something that I would really like to hear." the silver-blonde woman once again sent a polite smile at the silver-haired boy. "Would you share one of them with me?"

After thinking it over for a moment, the boy slowly nodded, even as his mind recalled the first and most vivid of the tragic tales he had witnessed, and the only one that he knew in full at the moment. He'd seen flashes of Cu Chulainn but nothing in full just yet.

"Once upon a time, there were a great King and the Knights who served him..."

And as the tale slowly unfolded itself and the gaze of Margaret grew more excited and curious that he could ever remember seeing, Yu could feel how another burning flame formed in his mind as a small link formed between himself and the mysterious woman, this one with the simple character of 'III'.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/19 Junes Entrance, Inaba]

After finishing tell the story of Gawain to Margaret and leaving the Velvet Room Yu remembered that he had been asked to go Junes in order to buy some groceries.

"Huh? Oh, it's you." Adachi said as he looked surprised to see Yu "What's the matter? Can I help you?"

"What are you doing?" Yu asked the detective who was clearly slacking off.

"What's its look like? I'm working here." Adachi lied; it was a lie so transparent that Yu was sure Adachi knew that he knew it was a lie "It's easy to investigate here with all the people around. It's cool in the summer, and warm in the winter. It's a pretty good place to...Yeah; I think I've said enough!

' _Yup he's slacking alright_ ' Cu Chulainn commented with a chuckle.

Yu wasn't sure whether to reprimand him for be lazy or commend him for his bravery in risking Dojima's wrath by slacking off while on duty.

' _I say commend him, it take's serious balls to slack off when your partner is a guy like Dojima._ ' The Hound of Ulster commented.

Looking down at his shopping Yu saw that none of it needed to go into the fridge immediately so he had time before had to go home with it all.

"I'll hang out with you too."

"Oh? That's a little strange." The detective commented.

' _Stranger than you? Ha!_ " Cu Chulainn laughed appearing in spirit form on Yu's left.

' _Quite dog, do not distract our king when he is talking._ ' Gawain reprimanded appearing spirit form on Yu's other side.

" _DON'T CALL ME A DOG DAMN IT!_ " the Lancer yelled angrily.

"So what are you doing here? Killing time?" Adachi asked "Tough to do out here in the sticks, isn't it? There's nothing here. It's not like the city at all."

"You can say that again." Yu agreed, there was no need to tell Adachi that he'd found some excitement in the form of the TV World after all.

"I knew you'd understand. You're from the city too, right?" Yu nodded at Adachi's question.  
"Get this-my first assignment here was tracking down a cat. My suit got so dirty...and they wouldn't let me expense the dry cleaning bill! Next, I played peacemaker in a spat some married couple was having. I can't believe they've got the police doing that stuff."

" _He seems rather dissatisfied with country life._ " Gawain observed.

" _Gee ya think?_ " Cu Chulainn remarked sarcastically.

"But it's been more dangerous lately, so I can't kick back. There's that one case, you know? It's still not solved yet. The higher-ups don't know what to do. They keep changing procedure on the fly...Oops! I hope I'm not making you nervous." Adachi rubbed the back of his head nervously before clearing his throat "You guys have nothing to worry about, you know. Us police are on the job!"

Yu sense that truly Adachi cared for you. As Yu felt that he could understand Adachi a bit more he felt another burning flame formed in his mind as another link formed between himself and the slacking detective, this one strangely with number '0'. This time he didn't feel another soul from the beyond connect to his own.

"Well time for me to get back to wo-Crap." Adachi exclaimed quietly preventing Yu from thinking any further on it. The detective suddenly hid behind Yu and tried to make himself as small as possible.

A few seconds later an old lady wearing a grey cardigan walked by. She stopped and gave a questioning glance in Yu's direction before continuing on out of Junes.

"Phew that was close." Adachi sigh with relief as he came out hiding.

" _A cop scared of an old lady?_ " Cu Chulainn said sceptically. " _She's definitely not extraordinary, not in a way I can sense anyway. Are we sure he's actually cop?_ "

Adachi didn't seem to want to see that old woman for some reason. Yu considered questioning the detective about but ultimately decided to leave it be.

"I'd better go. You hurry on home, too. Don't tell Dojima I was in Junes, okay?" Adachi pleaded.

Yu nodded before picking up his groceries and exited Junes leaving Adachi alone.

"I'm getting restless when can I fight?" a shadowy figure asked appearing behind Adachi.

"Just relax will ya?" Adachi mumbled to the impatient shadow.

"How can I relax? one the those who stands in the way of my attaining the grail is right there and you won't let me do anything." the shadow growled impatiently "I will not be denied, I WANT that wish!"

"Stop being such a whiner and relax you'll get it anyway if these idiots get themselves killed in the other world saving people and when that happens to all of them it's game over and you'll get your damn wish anyway so what does it matter?"

" It matters because you are underestimating their competence." the figure replied "They are getting stronger with each battle. They may not be able to use their Ultimate Noble Phantasms yet but it is only a matter of time, I do not look forward to fight them all at once unless you have a plan in mind to deal with them."

" Are you really that worried? I find it funny, really. Those kids are trying so hard to be Heroes and save the poor losers that end up inside that world, even though they CAN SEE first hand how a Hero's life always ends. In the end, they will make a mistake, be overwhelmed by the pressure, miss one important detail...and they will fail." a twisted smile appeared on the man's face even as the armoured figure hovered sinisterly behind him. "And when that happens...I will be there to remind them how pitifully pathetic they were."

"I hope you are right Adachi because fighting eight heroes at once is not good odds. So this plan better work or else." With that last warning the shadow vanished back into the depths of Adachi's mind.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/20 Stairwell, Yasogami High, Inaba]

The next day Yu was preparing to head to his next class. After he finished telling the story of Gawain to Margaret and obtaining another bond he returned home and found Adachi had come to eat dinner with them. His uncle had stated that he might get Golden Week off and promised to take the two of them out for a picnic and it had become Yu's job to make the food for said picnic.

He stopped when he approached the stairs; there was the girl from yesterday in the gym, her purse at her side coming down.

"Well if it isn't the new recruit." She observed with a bored tone and she continued down the stairs.

"Your name is Ebi isn't it?" Yu asked trying to remember the girl's full name which escaped him at this moment.

"To some people, to you it's Ai Ebihara." She corrected him before stopping at the bottom of the stairs, passing as she'd thought of something. "Hey whaddya say you ditch class with me this morning?"

"Hmm?" Yu felt reluctant, the last thing eh wanted to do was get another lecture from King Moron.

"The team asked me to go get a few things for them you see and I could really use another hand." She explained trying to push a bit harder. "You ARE a team player right?"

Yu sighed, he really wanted to just get this basketball thing over and done with so he decided to just role with it and agreed to Ai's request.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/20 High Street, Okina City, Inaba]

Yu found himself dragged by Ebihara from store to store, most of the time was spent in Croco fur shopping for female clothing.

"The basketball team sure needs some strange things." Yu commented carrying three bags full of shopping as they walked out of the store even though he knew why the things they requested were strange.

"That was obviously a lie!" Ai commented with a smirk.

"Obviously." Yu sighed.

" _I really hope there's more to this girl than this, I don't want our time to be wasted ditching class._ ' The Hound of Ulster commented.

Ai eventually lead led them to Atzrbucks where they sat down for drinks to Yu's private relief.

"It feels so good to be out." Ai sighed as she stretched arms to relax them "Everybody else is stuck in school with their stupid studies, that's what makes it so much fun."

"It is a nice change." Yu replied as he continued folding a napkin into the shape he desired.

"Wow you really get it and here I thought you were a boring square." Ai said bluntly.

"I've never ditched class before." Yu explained and he worked at the napkin.

"Oh you don't say." Ebihara said sarcastically before focusing on the napkin. "Just what are you making over there?"

Yu revealed the crane that he had shaped the napkin as and set it on the table.

"You're different than the other guys at school." the brunette gleefully stated, admiring his table napkin crane. "I may actually like you. You and me should get together again but next time it should really be after school 'kay?"

"Oh by the way I-"Ai suddenly paused and closed her mouth.

Yu then noticed that her eye was twitching and her fist crushed her macchiato. Despite the hot liquid going over her hand she seemed to ignore it completely despite how very hot it should have been.

"Are you ok?" Yu dared to ask.

"I'm fine. Just dandy." Ebihara said in a low tone that sounded like she was anything but ok, in fact she looked more than angry she seemed downright pissed. Her lips were curled into a smile, it was a kind of scary smile that promised pain and suffering on some unfortunate soul, he had seen it his mother's face when his dad did something especially stupid sometimes. "I'll be right back."

Ai immediately stood up and left the table treading surprisingly lightly for some reason as she walked away. Yu began to work on another napkin to pass the time but was distracted instead of going to get something to clean herself off Ai was circling around another table and headed back to the table. He looked at her questioningly only to receive a gesture demanding that he look away, the boy shrugged and obliged her looking downwards as he did so.

Yu was surprised when he saw hidden on the ground just out of view was a mouse. But this was no ordinary mouse, it was not moving from its position nor was it nibbling at food or searching for it, the creature was looking at Yu intently almost as if it was watching him, he briefly wondering if he was just being paranoid.

The fool raised an eyebrow at the mouse which seemed to widen its eyes, it began scurrying away but didn't make it very far before a pinkish-white high heel smashed the rodent killing it instantly. Looking up the heel in question belonged to Ai whose smile had changed from scary to one of genuine happiness.

"Much better." she sighed sitting back down and scraping the remains of the mouse off on the table leg. "I hate all rodents especially mice and rats I'll gladly crush any that dare enter my presence."

" _A woman who destroys that which displeases her, she'd be interesting to have in my court at least. But she's a bit too needy that would need to be crushed out of her before she was worthy of being near me._ " Yu recognised the arrogant voice making the comment and made to question it but felt the presence vanish before he ask anything.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/21 Gym, Yasogami High, Inaba]

After School the next day the team was practicing basketball passes in the gym. Unfortunately, there was not much in the way of practice going on. The other players, minus Kou and Yu, had gotten bored and decided to start talking about various subjects.

"What no team manager?" one guy lamented about Ai not being present.

"She's the only reason I come to practice." The guy to his left said.

"Me too, she's probably flirting with a bunch of guys right now that girl's super easy."

"I hear she's got a sugar daddy," another glasses wearing guy said looking at Yu and snickered.

"Dude with that face, that body, that ass, of course she's gonna have…."

"Enough! Stop saying those things about her." Yu's voice echoed with an otherworldly power, the players tried but found themselves unable to object.

"He's right it's not cool to be making up a bunch of crap about her." Ichijo agreed with Yu when he shook himself out of the daze Yu's words had put him into.

While this was occurring a mouse that was concealed near the door widened its eye's as if surprised at what it was seeing. So focused was it on the scene that it did not notice a shadow fall over it. In less than a second a black combat boot stomped the rodent into oblivion with only a loud crunch to signal it was there at all.

The sound of the stomp and the subsequent crunch caused everyone to turn to see what he was looking at, it was Ai and she was not happy. She turned around to leave without saying a word.

" _Dumbasses what do they expect talking crap about her in place she's supposed to be?_ " Cu Chulainn sighed.

"Hey, uh…." Kou tried to stop her only to get a rather fierce glare, which froze him on the spot.

Yu ran after her, Kou looked guilty while the other three simply laughed off what they said feeling no guilt at all.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Yu finally caught up to Ai near the bike rack, he knew what it felt like to have sports teams talk about you spitefully like that and wanted to make sure that Ai was alright.

"Wait up are you okay?" he asked when he finally caught up to her.

"I'm fine they're always like that, really it's no big deal." Ai replied waving his concern off "To be honest I kind a think it's awesome, I love it! I find it flattering. You see I totally got the hots...for Ichijo he's so cool." A love struck look crossed Ai's face and Yu could tell that this wasn't an act she was serious about her feelings for Ichijo.

"Yes he is." Yu agreed with her, frankly he did think Ichijo was cool, the boy was nothing like the other captains of sports team's he'd met.

"He's always cheerful and kind, he even stood up and defended from those guys back there!" Ai continued drifting off into her own little world "Hey do you think he's got eye's for anyone else?"

"Don't know." Yu replied honestly not liking where this was going.

"Please you gotta help me here!" Ebihara pleaded grasping Yu's hand "Find out whether he like's anybody or not."

"What a sec, why me?" Yu asked as his feeling was confirmed.

"Cause you have too!" Ai said insistently "You're the only one I can count on o do this for me!"

"Aren't I the lucky one." Yu sighed.

" _Yeesh and I thought I had crap luck._ " Cu Chulainn chuckled.

" _This might a case of your luck contaminating our King's own and if so I will have to tighten your leash dog!_ " Gawain stated with the smallest hint of a smirk.

" _DON'T CALL ME A DOG!_ " the Hound of Ulster yelled irately.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Later on Yu and Ichijo were in the gym storage room putting away the equipment before locking up. As he helped the captain push the cart full of basketballs into the storage room asked whether Ichijo liked anyone.

"Do I like anybody?" Kou was apparently caught off guard by the question as he blushing slightly "Well what brought that on?"

"So you don't?" Yu asked dodging the question.

"Come on….oh perfect your not gonna let this one go are ya?" Ichijo sighed reluctantly "Promise you won't tell a soul."

"No problem, I swear." Yu swore giving a slight glance to the vaulting horse which Kou luckily did not see.

"I-I like Chie, ok?" Kou confessed after a few seconds.

Yu immediately pretended to cough in order to cover up his amusement, of the all the girls Chie was the last person he excepted Kou to have a crush on. Not because there was anything wrong with the girl, it was just a surprise. He genuinely expected Kou to have feelings for Ai judging by the way he stood up for her earlier.

"Hey what are you acting like that for?" Kou demanded "But man, I'm so jealous that you get to sit next to her every day it blows!" the boy then put his arm around Yu's shoulder pulling him close "Now that you know, you've put in a good word. Thanks man."

With that Ichijo left Yu alone, well almost alone. He was speechless when he took the lid off the vaulting horse revealing Ai who had been listening in. She looked very depressed after hearing that Ichijo had eyes for someone else.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/21 Rooftop, Yasogami High, Inaba]

After hearing whom it was Ichijo had feelings for Ai had bolted off, Yu having a bad feeling gave chase. As it turned out his instincts were correct as Ebihara was now sitting atop the fence that surrounded the school rooftop and trying to clamber to the meagre bit of rooftop on the other side of it.

"I'm gonna kill myself!" Ebihara cried as she tried to climb down only to be held back by Yu.

"Take it easy!"

"I know Chie! She's that frumpy looking girl." Ai screeched "I'm a hundred times better looking than she'll ever be!"

"You've gotta calm down!" Yu insisted continuing to try and pull Ai down carefully.

"Don't touch me!" She promptly slapped his hand away but remained balanced on the top of the fence "Get any closer and I'll jump for sure!"

"Think how your parents would feel." Yu said as gently as he could, he knew that when trying to calm someone down your tone was as important as your words

"So he doesn't even notice me?" Ebihara asked gloomily. "But I'm so cute now… I worked really hard to look like this." Tears began flowing down Ai's face "But if he doesn't love me what's the point?"

Yu climbed up and took a seat on the fence; he was just far enough from her to Ai keep her comfortable. She's was very fragile right now and simply yanking her down could cause her to become even more emotionally unstable.

Yu calmly watched her cry her eyes out for good five minutes as he patiently waited for her to calm down, eventually she did so and began to open up about herself.

"See I used to be the ugly fat girl and everyone teased me; all of my classmate's would gang up on me and call me gross girl and piggy-hara." Ai paused and sniffed before continuing "So I starved myself until I lost a tone of weight. I read magazine's looking for tips on how to be cute and popular."

"I get it, you worked hard for this."

"Yeah but it wasn't enough, I became cute but still…no one loves me." Ai burst into tears once again "Why don't they love me?"

Yu let out a breath before continuing to talk.

"Look you worked really hard to be where you are. I'm sure your going to find a guy who like's you for who you are soon."

"You're…really nice." Ai sniffed wiping the tears form her eyes "I wish I'd fallen for someone like y-yo-woah-waah!" Suddenly the wind began picking up, Yu managed to steady himself sadly the same was not true for Ai as the once gentle breeze became a powerful gust that blew her backwards off the fence sending her plummeting towards the ground below.

"AAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!"

As he heard her scream of terror Yu shut everything else out and stood onto the fence.

" _My king what are you-?_ " Gawain was cut off as the Fool following instincts that seemed to rise within him, dove after the falling girl.

The wind roared in Yu's ears as he fell, made his body as thin as possible to limit air resistance and speed up his descent. It worked and he quickly caught up to Ai and held her in a bridle style embrace.

Yu looked down at the ground which was rushing up to meet him, his mind told him to land in a roll to try and reduce at least some of the impact. However his instincts still whispered to him, so instead of preparing to roll he positioned his body to he would land on his feet, despite common sense screaming at him that his legs would be shattered at best from such a feat.

As his feet hit the ground he heard a loud crack, however it was not the sound of bone but concrete, indeed the concrete where he landed cracked and crumbled making a huge crater

" _.Fuck?_ " the Hound of Ulster's voice stated with disbelief.

Yu leapt up into the air again soaring higher than humanly possible until finally he was over the fence and safely on the rooftop.

Looking at his passenger he saw that Ai had at some point fallen unconscious. He gently set her down on the ground and stood up to look around. Luckily it seemed that no one had seen his superhuman feat which was good because it would be awkward enough explaining this to Ai alone never mind a bunch of other people.

" _ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!_ " Cu Chulainn yelled at his the boy.

" _Agreed, while that was brave it was also extremely reckless you could have been killed._ " Gawain admonished siding with the Hound of Ulster.

"I'm sorry." Yu didn't know what else to say. "I wanted to save her and I couldn't think of anything else, it was like instinct."

" _Yeah well try to be less hasty in the future._ " Cu Chulainn sighed " _If you die we disappear too, and believe me it is in fact, a pain in the ass. I get the feeling that your going to be unlocking more Heroic Spirits in the future and not all of them will be as nice about this kind of crap as us so be more careful ok?_ "

Yu said nothing but mentally agreed to his Persona as he sat down near Ai's head and let out a sigh, hearing a squeak he looked at saw a mouse nearby.

"How am I gonna explain this to her?" Yu asked of the mouse which only tilted its head. "Figures….hey I wouldn't stay there if I were you." Yu told the rodent which seemed to look at him questioningly. Despite feeling slightly odd talking to a mouse he felt the rodent deserved a fair warning, alas it was too late as the unconscious Ai's boot clad foot lashed out sending the mouse into the wall with a splat. "Tried to warn you." Yu deadpanned with a sweat drop, it seemed even unconsciousness wouldn't impede Ai's declaration of war on rodents.

With that the Fool stared down at the rodent hating girl and while thinking about what he was going to say to her he also silently prayed that if he should die exploring the TV world that he not be reincarnated as a rodent anywhere near Ai Ebihara, because his new life would be very short indeed.

Nearly ten minutes passed before Ai's eye's fluttered open and she sat up from her prone position. Yu had managed to find a spare receipt in his pocket and had spent the time folding it into a crane.

"Your awake, I'm glad." Yu said giving her a smile.

"I'm lying down. Did cry myself to sleep?" Ai asked wiping the remaining tears away from her eyes "But that dream seemed so real though…."

"Can I ask what your dream was about?" Yu inquired praying that she take the excuse she'd inadvertently given him.

"Y-yeah I was telling you that you were a nice guy and then the wind blew me off the fence and I was falling, but then you dove after me and saved me." She quickly grabbed his hands causing him to drop the paper crane. "That dreams got to be a sign I know it, you can help me. Please you've gotta act like you love me until I find a guy I really want!"

Yu was rendered speechless and had no idea what to say or do.

" _Better run with it_." Cu Chulainn said " _Unless you want her to get suspicious about her dream being more than a dream._ "

Seeing no way out of the situation, Yu reluctantly agreed and had a feeling that hardship for both himself and his wallet lay in his immediate future.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/22 road to Yasogami High, Inaba]

"Yo, Narukami!" Hanamura called Yu with a waving Chie next to him.

"Yu!" The Fool felt a chill go up his spine as he heard a familiar voice calling to him, sure enough there was Ai running up to him. "Hey Yu! Let's skip school today and hang out with each other."

Yu sighed internally at the loss of his near perfect attendance record and reluctantly allowed Ai to drag him away again.

"When did they hook up?" Yosuke pondered, whispers from other students drifted through the air as Yu had a feeling what the next piece of juicy gossip at Yasogami High would be.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/22 Café Chagall, Okina City Inaba]

"Come on" Ebihara whined "I said I wanted caramel sauce!"

"Oh, sorry." Yu apologised having gotten Ai's drink order wrong.

"Your not forgiven until you say you love me," she stated. Yu stammered unsure of what to say. "I'm waiting….say it come on." Ebihara got impatient fast.

"I… I can't."

Luckily for Yu, Ai relented and instead dragged him off to a clothing store nearby surprisingly it wasn't Croco Fur but that was probably because Croco Fur didn't have the photo booth that Ebihara had dragged Yu into.

"Hey let's make out" Ai proposed very into this date.

"What?" Yu choked surprised at her forwardness.

"Come on, its ok no one is watching and we are going out after all." Ai insisted.

"No, I can't! I can-" Yu was cut off as Ai quickly stole a kiss and held it as the booth began taking the photos. Yu was too surprised by her boldness and slightly afraid of the consequences too push Ai away so he let it happen.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/23 Class 2-2, Yasogami High, Inaba]

The next day in class Yu sat in his seat, depressed over the brow beating he got from King Moron earlier for skipping school with Ebihara yesterday. She didn't seem bothered by it as she had heard it all before but it was the first time Yu had been chewed out for skipping class, usually he just attended and kept his head down.

"Hey Narukami, we're meeting up at the Junes' food court after school," Yosuke informed him standing in front of the silver haired boy's desk during lunch.

"We need to sit down and review those cases." Chie said.

"Yeah…right….we need to do that…" Yu agreed only half listening.

The normally arguing pair both gave Yu looks of concern however before Yu could say anything a ring tone programmed for a specific caller came from his pocket causing Yu to straighten up and gain a disturbed expression on his face.

"Not gonna get that?" Yosuke asked raising an eyebrow at Yu's disturbed expression.

"Right."

"Too slow! I'm your girlfriend and it took you three rings!" Ai screeched down the phone nearly destroying Yu's eardrums causing him to hang up instinctively.

' _That probably wasn't a smart idea_.' Cu Chulainn sighed.

"What's that about?" Yosuke asked curiously.

"Oh nothing much." Yu lied 'I should call her back if don't then she's really gonna lay into me.' Yu thought to himself as he took out his phone and walked out the classroom to call Ai back.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/23 Food Court, Junes, Inaba]

Later on that day it wound up just being Yosuke and Chie meeting up at the food court with no sign of of their leader.

"What's your take on them?" Chie asked sharply clearly unimpressed with his absence.

"On who?" Yosuke asked.

"On Narukami and Ebihara." she elaborated irritably.

"Oh Them? I think they make a pretty good looking couple." Yosuke answered matter-of-factly.

"Like hell they do!" And Satonaka, with all the energy channelled perfectly due to her kung-fu practice with Li Shuwen, kicked the table making Yosuke a spit his soda out. "They're all playing hooky, and crawling all over each other ! That's not like Narukami at all!" she yelled.

" _Perhaps this Ai Ebihara is the problem._ " Li Shuwen said appearing in Spirit Form.

"I can see that!" Chie interrupted her Persona. "She got him to prioritize a date over reviewing the cases today!"

" _Calm yourself my student._ " The assassin chided " _This Ebihara from what I have been able to observe has a strong personality and is not the most emotionally stable of individuals. Combine this with the fact that your leader has most likely never been approached by a girl in this manner due to his constant moving about and you have a recipe for this kind of situation._ "

"….I guess you have a point." Chie mumbled still unhappy.

"Why are you getting yourself so worked up over all this?" Yosuke asked "Whoa. Wait a sec do you?...Now I get it." Yosuke smirked and squinted his eyes.

"Huh?"

"He's a super cool dude and he can use a bunch of Personas." Yosuke's smirk became a full blown grin.

" _My lord I don't think…_ " Diarmuid trailed off when it became apparent that Yosuke was not paying attention.

"What?" Chie had no idea what Yosuke was talking about causing

" _I believe he means that green is an interesting colour on you my master._ " Li Shuwen sniggered confusing Chie further.

"Huh?"

"It's ok I gotcha." Yosuke said confidently giving her a thumbs you. "You may think your up the creek with a paddle but I'm gonna bail ya out kay?"

"I am so lost." Chie said with no idea what Yosuke or her Persona were talking about.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/26, Gym, Yasogami High, Inaba]

The following Tuesday Ichijo had gathered the entire team together for an announcement of some sort.

"Guys listen up, I've put out team down to play in a practice game this weekend." Ichijo announced getting groans for a large amount of the team, save for Yu and a couple of others. Yu felt no sympathy for them at all, he knew what true hardship was and its name was Ai Ebihara. "We haven't done this forever so, so let's get out there and kick some ass!" Ichijo sounded very cheerful.

"Sure." The team echoed their collective voices devoid of enthusiasm.

"Yo! Got a second?" Yosuke's voice came from the gym entrance.

"Oh, Yosuke." the captain acknowledged, then blushed when he saw Chie.

"What are you two doing here?" Yu asked bluntly.

"So I've been talking to Chie here and she wants to become your team manager." Hanamura said with a grin lacing his expression, even as Chie's jaw dropped. "Can she give it a shot?"

"Yeah!" Ichijo said a bit too enthusiastically "That would be great."

"Wait is that why you dragged me here?" Chie whispered angrily to Yosuke.

"I'm telling you, you've got to level the playing field a bit if you want to try and beat Ebihara." Yosuke whispered to Chie conspiratorially.

"Dude what?" Chie remained confused by what Yosuke was saying to her and tried to ignore her Persona sniggering at her.

"Life sure is hard for a girl in love." The prince of Junes whispered to Chie with a nod.

"I so do not get you." Chie said causing her Persona's sniggers to become full blown laughter.

"Thanks a lot man this is awesome we could really use the help with the upcoming game." Ichijo stated.

"Well I guess I could help out for one game." Chie relented seeing no problem only to sweat drop upon seeing Ai giving her a death glare. "It think someone's giving me the stink eye." She mumbled to herself

"Woah, it's a knock down drag battle for love has!" Yosuke exclaimed snickering with excitement.

"What are you trying to do?" Yu asked to the snickering Yosuke.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/26, changing rooms, Yasogami High, Inaba]

The other team member had changing quickly and gone home leaving only Yu and Ichijo to change after putting the equipment away.

"Hey Narukami," Ichijo started as he pulled off his shirt putting it lazily into his gym bag. "After this next game, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to quit the team."

"What for?" Yu asked as he continued changing back into his regular clothes.

"You see my parents never really approved of the whole basketball thing team. I'm from a big family and I'm first in line to run things so…" Ichijo began taking his socks off and putting them away. "It sucks….I've only ever talked about this with Nagase but I figured that I could trust you with it too." Ichijo gave Yu a trusting sad yet trusting smile. "This last game I really want to win it. Could you help me out? I know you don't have such good experiences with sports teams but…"

"No problem, I can put that aside for a friend in need." Yu interrupted Ichijo and gave him a smile.

"Awesome!" Ichijo exclaimed as he stood from the bench. "Thanks a lot man and if we win I'm gonna tell Chie how I really feel about her!"

"Huh?" Yu let out a noise of surprise.

" _That's not good._ " The Hound of Ulster commented " _If he does that then Ebihara really will go over the edge, no matter if she says you're her boyfriend she still has feelings for Ichijo that's for sure._ "

" _But we cannot break our word to Ichijo._ " Gawain pointed out " _Perhaps we can make sure the game ends on a tie instead?_ "

"That's it, that's how we'll pull this off." Yu muttered to his Persona so Ichijo would not hear.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/29, Gym, Yasogami High, Inaba]

"I just came to cheer you guys on." Yosuke explained pulling at the uniform he was wearing. "So how did I end up wearing a uniform?"

"But some guys were no shows so we're short on players." Ichijo explained.

"Happens all the time, just do your best." Daisuke said walking past Yosuke.

"Yosuke." Yu came up to the boy.

"Hey there's something I've been meaning to tell you, these past few days I've been feeling weird, like I'm faster, stronger stuff like that. What about you do you feel any different?"

"Yeah I know what you mean." Yu nodded "We can use that to our advantage, try to be fast but not so fast that it looks weird. I want to make sure this game ends on tie, can you help me?"

"Yeah…uh…no problem." Yosuke agreed shakily. "But why a tie?"

"Because something….might happen if we win and I don't want to disappoint Ichijo by losing." Yu replied.

"Ok gotcha."

Chie meanwhile was setting up the video camera to get footage of the game when her view was blocked by Ai Ebihara.

"I don't care if you're here for just one game you are not welcome here." Ai said venomously to the meat loving girl.

"Why do you care what happens? I hear you hardly show up for practice anyway." Chie shot back hitting a nerve.

Yosuke watched the two bicker back and forth before looking at Yu who had been passed a ball for practice before the game.

"It's hard being a ladies man right Narukami?" Yosuke smirked.

"What?" Yu had no idea what Yosuke meant.

A few minutes later the teams were assembled and the referee blew his whistle to signify the start of the match.

"Let's play fair." Both teams said at once before the ball was released.

Ichijo jumped for it but the other captain managed to steal it and began dribbling it down the court. Yu saw this and nodded at Yosuke who gave him a grin. The silver haired boy ran mindful of his speed and quickly stole the ball from the opposing captain, dribbling it up court quickly managing to score the first shot of the match. With Yosuke's help Yu was able to easily steal the ball and score while also allowing the other team to keep up without it looking suspicious.

Meanwhile at the bench Chie and Ai were both recording data on the match, neither was happy to be in the others presence.

"Seeing you up close piss's me off even more," Ebihara muttered, loud enough for Chie to hear in a venomous tone. "I can't believe that I lost to a frumpy looking dog like you."

"Frumpy? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Don't act like you don't know, I'm going through hell because of you!" Ai seethed, gritting her teeth bare restrained anger.

"Well as long as we're sharing I've got something to tell you." Chie said snapped back. "I've seen the way you're pushing Narukami around, it's horrible!"

"Huh?" Ai raised an eyebrow and smirked "You've got the hots for Narukami haven't you?"

"I'm his friend!" Ai's expression dropped and she clenched her fists in anger.

"Great, you're loved and you have a bunch of friends to boot." she mumbled sadly. "You've got everything, you bitch!" she promptly stood up, crushed a mouse that was watching the game and slapped Chie across the face.

"What the hell?!" Chie hissed, standing up. "All I'm saying that if you're going to be Narukami's girlfriend, then treat him better!"

Chie slapped Ai back, which in turn caused her to retaliate. It went on like this until it became a full on cat fight between the two. With Chie admirably holding back due to the serious damage she could do to Ebihara.

"Hey cut it out you two!" Yu yelled at the two Gawain's Charisma skill seeping into his words causing the girls to release each and sit down as if on instinct. "This might be Ichijo's last game!" Those words caused Ebihara to flinch. "So just sit down and watch him!"

"Less than a minute left!" Ichijo called cause Yu to look at the scoreboard and see that he needed one more score to get a tie. He promptly grabbed Yosuke and ran off to continue his plan.

"What the hell…was that?" Chie mumbled so Ai could not hear.

" _That young grasshopper was your leader undoubtedly drawing on Gawain's Charisma skill._ " Li Shuwen explained appearing in spirit form and watching the game. " _Even if it is E Ranked, Gawain is a Natural Knight against whom it is very difficult to object, especially for ordinary people such as yourself, you have along way to go yet my student._ "

Chie pondered her Persona's words loosing herself deep in thought as failed to notice the game ending.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/29, Aiya, Shopping District, Inaba]

The Game ended had ended and Ichijo, Daisuke, Ai, Chie, Yosuke and Yu were all at Aika's although the mood was a bit more cheerful than most would think it would be. Apparently Ichijo was still happy that they hadn't lost. A tie was a first for the Yasogami basketball team in a long time.

"We did our best!" everyone cheered clinking their glasses together before drinking.

"Thanks for waiting. One beef over rice." Aika announced as she came towards them with a hot bowl of nikudon.

"Ah. Here!" Ichijo said excitedly, gazing at the hot bowl with gusto. "I'm digging in!"

Dig in he did, Ichijo began eating the nikudon with delight on his face.

"Ichijo, I'm sorry man…" Nagase said looking down.

Ichijo looked up and stopped _inhaling_ his food for moment looking questioningly.

"Huh?" he made a questioning sound.

"I've let you down…" Nagase continued glumly. He totally knew. It doesn't take a psychic or some fluffy bear's nose to sense that.

"It was your last game too, we're sorry we could bag a win." Yu finished feeling bad for lying, he could have easily bagged a win, but Yu didn't want to risk Ai becoming unstable again should Ichijo actually confess to Chie.

"Oh," Ichijo gulped his food. " I changed my mind about that."

Everyone collectively looked at the boy questioningly.

"That game made me realize something important." Ichijo spoke calmly before smiling and looking like he was in high spirits. "I really love playing basketball."

He toyed with his chopsticks and gazed at the remainder of his drink with a pensive look on his face. "I really hate losing and even though we got a tie this time, I can't end it like this, we were only able to compete with those guys 'coz you joined and we tied thanks to your skills." he continued, speaking jovially. "I seriously owe you one, Narukami. Thanks, man."

"No problem" Yu replied

"And someday when our team actually does win a game I'll tell her how I feel." Ichijo whispered excitedly.

"Yeah."

"So what do you say? Are you gonna stick team and help us win some games?" he asked.

"I'll come along if you can get another real match going." Yu replied.

Satonaka then chimed in while Hanamura rested his elbows at the counter, waiting for his food.

"I'd love to stick around but I can't, it seems that I don't seem to mix well with a certain someone." Chie chimed in crossing her arms and pouting.

"Hey Ichijo?" Ai got the attention of the captain. "Do you mind if…" she started, blushing lightly "I stick around the basketball team?"

"Of course not!" Ichijo said excitedly.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/29, Shopping District, Inaba]

The rain had long since let up when they walking home together through the shopping district.

"Man. That last shot I made? You saw it right? It was so awesome!" Ichijo bragged to Daisuke.

"Of course I did. I would have covered for you if you missed." Daisuke replied.

"Oh yeah like that would ever happen!"

"Hey, Yu." Ai ran up to Yu "I'll be okay on my own now."

Whoa. Breaking up huh? I'm a little surprised since I heard that relationship endings should be done in private, plus it's a little bit rushed, but of course, I already know the reason why.

It's Ichijo, right?

"Your really nice and I wanted you around to spoil me, at least until I got over being rejected." Ebihara explained softly watching the object of her affection getting his head bashed by the taller soccer team captain. "For a second there, I thought there was a chance that I might end up falling for you."

She promptly held up the photo's that had been taken a few days ago in the photo booth.

"Here I want you to have this as a memento" Ebihara continued. "It's a major pain in the ass but I'm gonna try to act like a good manager from now on. You helped me come to that decision and its time that I followed through, thanks so much for all that you've done."

So she winked and ran to catch up with Ichijo, she slowed to walk alongside him and began talking to him. Yu smiled at the two as he felt the strength of the bonds he'd established with them. Deep within, two more souls connected to him from Beyond, with the numbers XI and XVIII representing Ichijo and Ai respectively.

"God damn!" Cu Chulainn exclaimed appeared in spirit form walking beside him. "It's starting to get crowded in there, there's now five stiffs in that noggin or yours would it kill ya to make more room?"

Yu simply smirked at the Persona as they walked along the path.

"I do wonder though, on the rooftop how did I do that?" Yu wondered aloud yet quietly enough so only Cu Chulainn could hear.

"Beats me" the Hound of Ulster shrugged "I've never heard of situation like this before."

Yu fell silent as he continued walking home.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[Wizard Marshal Zelretch's office, Clock Tower, London]

Wizard Marshal Zelretch currently sat in his office, for once not making someone else's life hectic for his own amusement. It had only been a short time since Narukami had awakened the new modified Persona ability and already he had a hang of the Wild Card's power. The bond's he created had given him more connections to souls in the Throne of Heroes. Everything was going according to plan and by the end of this mess Nyarlathotep would be tearing his non existent hair out having lost again.

Just as Zelretch was about to take reach for his drink the door slammed open reveal a very angry looking Waver Velvet a.k.a Lord El Melloi II.

"You" he pointed at Zelretch "You're behind this, admit it!"

"Alright I'll bite what have I done now?" Zelretch asked with an infuriating smirk.

"Don't play stupid with me, you know what I'm talking about. That Ebihara girl." Waver yelled angrily.

"What about her?"

"In just nine day's she's managed to kill sixty five of my familiars, which are _supposed_ to be watching Narukami and his group. A loss of one or two is something I can take but sixty five! I KNOW THAT YOU'RE BEHIND THIS!" Lord El Melloi bellowed.

"Sorry Waver, but I can say with complete honesty that I have nothing to do with this." Zelretch answered with an amused grin.

"If not you then how does she keep finding my familiars?" Waver growled at the Wizard Marshal.

"Mystic Eye's of Rodent Detection?" Zelretch suggested getting an infuriated growl from Lord El Melloi.

"THERE'S NO SUCH THING AND YOU KNOW IT!" Waver yelled infuriated.

"Relax, it's not like they're that hard to replace." Zelretch replied casually waving him off. "Anyway, anything important to report?"

"Yes" Waver stated calming down and clearing his throat "From what my familiars have observed it would seem the attributes of Heroic Spirits are somehow leaking out into the hosts, I have yet to determine why or how but I suspect it may linked to the nature of Persona's."

"Hmmmm…..keep watching them, we might need to step in if this starts getting attention." Zelretch ordered receiving a nod of confirmation from Waver who wandered off to carry out his orders.

After that, a new smile crossed the face of the Old Man of the Jewels. It seemed that things would certainly get interesting in the future.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or Fate or anything in the nasuverse, any resemblance to any other Persona 4/Fate fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please constructive criticism only.
> 
> AN: Just an FYI I decided to skip Level 2 of Marie's Slink. So I wrote out Level three instead. In that event Marie never showed her ability to see Heroic Spirits hence the surprise.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/01, Parking Lot, North Shopping district, Inaba]

It was late into the night and the sun had long since set, however this did nothing to discourage the young man known as Kanji Tatsumi who was surrounded by a biker gang that kept returning after he crushed them the last time. There were about a forty of them, but their numbers didn't scare him. His problem was that they kept revving up their damn bikes which stopped his mother from getting any sleep, hence why he'd been crushing Biker gangs in the area for a few years now.

Predictably they had come to the parking lot and Kanji had been waiting for them. He was already into the fray; beating down the morons who rushed him one after another sometimes even flipping them around and throwing them into their buddies. He ignored the camera crew that was recording the whole thing like a TV show. He couldn't think about them, right now he had to take down these assholes.

It was while Kanji was distracted fighting off two others, that a biker with a wooden sword rushed him intending to take him down from behind.

"Behind you villain!" a voice called from the shadows.

"What in the hell is tha-OOF" the sword wielding biker was cut off as a shadow leapt from atop a roof and landed by planting his foot into the biker's head sending him to the ground knocking him unconscious.

The figure was wearing a gentlemen's tuxedo, a blond wig on covering his hair and a silver mask adorning his face with a comical smile on it. His appearance caused Kanji and the Biker's to pause in their fight. The intruder stepped off of the biker he had been standing on and picked up a wooden sword.

"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" The apparent leader of the gang demanded angrily.

"I'm glad you asked delinquent scum." the silver masked figure said deliberately with a clearly fake deep and heroic voice. "I have heard the cries of the people living in this area forced to suffer the intolerable noise you thugs make night after night, yet even as this brave young man" the masked figure motioned to Kanji "crushes you time and again like a rash on the towns backside you continue to flare up, well rapscallions no more for I am this towns rash soothing cream, prepare to taste the fury of..." the figure struck a pose so his body was shaped like a capital Y " Space Samurai...Y!"

Kanji and the camera crew who were watching the exchange sweat dropped when the masked figure finished his speech and struck his pose. A few seconds passed and the biker's all burst into laughter.

"Who the hell is this guy?"

" Is he for real?"

" What does he think this is a cartoon?"

" Get lost, this ain't Featherman pal."

"Wait did he just call us an ass rash?"

" Underestimate me at your own peril ne'er-do-wells." Space Samurai Y held up the wooden sword in a ready stance which amused the bikers.

"I'll take care of this loser." one of the bikers wearing a tattered jacket said cracking his knuckles "Say goodnight hero."

The thug charged at the samurai, however quicker than any of the witnesses could think the charging biker had his feet swiped from under him and was sent to the ground hard as the wooden sword slammed into his exposed back.

"What the hell? Who in the fuck are you?" the leader of the biker's demanded angrily.

"I have already told you I am Space Samurai Y, a passing ally of justice here to punish you hoodlums." the Samurai stated before looking at Kanji "Young man, let's teach these rapscallions a lesson they won't soon forget, what say you?"

" Huh...er yeah I'm ready damn it." Kanji yelled clenching his fists as he prepared to fight again.

"Very well" The samurai leapt into the air and landed so he was standing next to Kanji. "I'll take the twenty on the right you take the twenty on the left."

" Screw that I'll take twenty one" Kanji yelled pumped up.

"That's the spirit." the Samurai stated preparing to fight.

"W-what the hell are you all waiting for an engraved invitation?" the Leader yelled at his men "Kill these morons."

After a second of hesitation the gang rushed the two hoping to take them down quickly.

"Very well, all at once it is, have at thee rapscallions." the Samurai cried leaping into battle.

"I'LL BEAT YOU ALL DOWN DAMN IT!" Kanji yelled as his fists flew into the faces of bikers.

Battle cries echoed into the night as the 'fight' resumed. It could hardly be called a fight though, one sided beat down was more accurate as Kanji the Space Samurai beat the delinquents down left and right. In the beginning of the fight the samurai was doing more damage to the gang members he struck down, with some loosing teeth and having broken noses and even broken arms as they were sent to the ground by the wooden sword.

However as the fight dragged on his swings which seemed to be slightly wild became more focused, any master of the sword who was watching the fight could tell that he was quickly going from displaying the skill of an rookie to that of a novice to an amateur, to an expert and finally a professional with the skill of years all within seconds.

Such rapid improvement especially in a street brawl like this was unheard of and the few weapon practitioners who continued preserving their art that were watching the fight on the news would have their interest piqued when they would watch the masked man in action.

It was long before the fight began to wind down with less than ten bikers left conscious. They charged over their comrades to try and take the two down only to meet the same fate as their comrades.

"STAY DOWN! ASSHOLES!" Kanji yelled as he smashed together the heads of two bikers together.

One who had engaged the Samurai kept trying to grab the masked man only for him to toy with him by dancing out of the way.

"Stay. Still. Bas. tard." The biker growled grabbing at the masked intruder with every syllable.

It was when the delinquent grabbed at his wig that the Space Samurai had enough and smashed him on the head knocking him to the ground.

"Don't grab there that wig was expensi-I mean that's my hair you fiend." The Samurai yelled correcting himself quickly.

As the masked fighter knocked down the hair grabbing biker he dropped the wooden sword and dusted off his gloved hands watching as Kanji finished the fighter by smashing the leaders head into his own bike sending him to dreamland with the rest of his crew.

"Now stay away from this place damn it, go bike or whatever somewhere else." Kanji yelled shaking the unconscious gang leader before dropping him and turning to the masked man who had helped him fight. "Hey…er thanks for the help man."

"No thanks necessary citizen" The Samurai said still putting using his deep heroic voice "Now I must be off duty calls" the samurai leapt off "till next ti-YEOW SON OF A-" or tried to when he was suddenly sent back to earth due to smashing his head by leaping up into a streetlight "Who moved that damned streetlight?" he suddenly stiffened and flinched when he saw that Kanji and the news crew were still staring at him, the samurai sweat dropped, cleared his throat and stood up. "As I was saying, 'till next time citizens. Space Samurai Y AWAY!"

The masked man leapt up onto the roof in an incredible display of acrobatics and ran across it fading into the night, looking like a cool superhero….or he did look cool until he could be heard tripping and falling off of the rooftop and crash landed into some trash cans on the other side.

"WAAAHH-OOOF, why are these rooftops so damned small and what is in these cans?" the sound of sniffing could be heard "Oh good lord it's tuna, this'll take forever to wash out."

Kanji was so distracted by spectacle that he almost forgot to give the news crew a piece of his mind, all of them sweat dropped at the goofy masked man's antics as he ran off.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/02, Hallway, Yasogami High, Inaba]

The next morning the students all gossiped in awe and fear as one Kanji Tatsumi stormed by ignoring them all.

"Hey, did you hear about the new freshman student?" one student asked another in a not so quiet tone.

"I did but, is it legit? Did he really beat up an entire biker gang?" his friend asked curiously.

"They say it's true. It was him and some guy in a mask versus a hundred and the two of them kicked the crap out of those bikers!"

"When they finished, the freshman became their boss and the masked guy became his right hand man. Apparently he even got interviewed by some TV station."

"nah, man that's not what I heard."

"What did you hear?"

"I heard the masked guy was pissed that Kanji became the biker's boss and yelled that he would destroy all evil and then the two had an epic clash that ended with the two beating each other senseless."

"That's bullshit I heard the masked guy just ran off after the fight."

"Whatever, what do you think a thug like that's doin' in our school?"

"I dunno but he should crawl back to whatever gutter he came from." The other remarked snidely.

They laughed until the boy in question began walking towards them, hands in his pockets. When they spotted him they immediately gained nervous looks and skulked off, his gaze followed them before he growled and made to keep walking. He stopped when all of a sudden someone tapped on his shoulder.

"Is this yours?" He whipped around, and there stood Yu, holding a fluffy pink bunny keychain. Face becoming red; he snatched it out of the other boy's hand.

"G-gimme that!"

With that Kanji immediately pocketed the keychain and began storming off a little bit faster.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/02, Rooftop, Yasogami High, Inaba]

Lunchtime finally rolled around, a surprising number of people had chosen to stay in their classrooms or the halls for lunch today, no one felt like going outside which was perfect for Yu who had need to have the rooftop all to himself for what he wanted to do.

" _I looked around in spirit form, we're alone, no one the see what we're doing up here._ " The Hound of Ulster reported. " _But are you sure this'll work?_ "

" It can't hurt to try" Yu replied coolly. "The worst that can happen is that I look like an idiot with no one around to see It."

_"Alright, but let's just hope this ain't too flashy or we're gonna have a hard time explaining this._ " Cu Chulainn sighed.

Yu took a deep breath before extending his hand outwards and reaching within to his bond with Marie.

"I call to the power of the bonds within, you who align yourself with The Aeon Arcana" a short ways away from Yu there appeared a large circle that glowed blue with a mask in the centre that was half light half dark underneath. Floating above it in the air was a tarot card with the image of an Egyptian deity holding a staff on it, when it rotated around its image changed to that of an armoured man driving a Chariot with word the Roman numeral XX next to the word Rider. It changed back and forth from this image as it slowly spun in the air. "I call to you under this bond and ask that you appear to me now, come forth Rider of the Aeon."

Yu clenched his fist and the Arcana shattered and blue flame's swirled around the circle. After a few seconds they dissipated and revealed a woman dressed in black and dark purple attire which left little to the imagination. The toga like dress she wore displayed a generous amount of her impressive cleavage and hugged her body tightly, ending in a short skirt. Her arms were covered in sleeves disconnected from her toga that began at her biceps with bands keeping them in place and ended in handcuffs around her wrists. Her legs were donned similarly with black leggings that went up to her thighs and black boots underneath.

Her eyes were covered by a purple headband that matched colours to the choker she wore. Completing her physical appearance was her absurdly long purple hair a few strands of which brushed against the ground; a red marking of some sort adorned her forehead.

A few seconds passed and Cu Chulainn let out an appreciative whistle.

' _Woah babe alert, you sure know how to summon 'em._ ' the Hound of Ulster commented with a grin.

"So you're the Aeon Arcana Persona right?" Yu asked

' _Correct_.' she answered stoically staring at him through her blindfold.

"So who are you?"

" _I am Medusa._ " She answered shortly; apparently she wasn't one for giving out long answers.

' _So we can be summoned this world too, not just the TV World._ ' Gawain said appearing in spirit form. ' _That is good to know in case of an emergency. You are of the Rider Class if I am not mistaken, correct?_ ' Medusa nodded at the knight in silent confirmation.

"Yeah, but it's a bit harder here, like it take's more energy maintain." Yu stated trying to catch his breath.

In response to her masters situation Medusa took spirit form becoming invisible to all expect Persona users thus relieving him of the burden.

"Thank you." Yu expressed his gratitude towards the Persona for relieving him of the burden.

' _It is no trouble….Space Samurai Y.'_ " Medusa replied while trying to fight down a smirk.

A pause and the sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed. Gawains face had become firmly buried in his hands apparently mortified at being reminded about last night.

' _My King, even if your actions were for a noble cause, couldn't you have protected your identity in a less...unsightly way?_ ' The Knight of the Sun pleaded while Cu Chulainn began laughing his ass off at the memory of last nights…escapade.

"People consider me a calm, collected and serious person." Yu replied to his Persona while still looking at Medusa whose smirk had quickly disappeared from her face; however the Wild Card could feel an aura of humour pouring off of the Persona. "By acting that way no one will ever suspect that it's me."

' _Why do I have the feeling this is not the last time we will be doing this?_ ' Gawain asked mortified.

"I need the practice." Yu stated feeling no shame. "Even with just a wooden sword against some thugs, it's good practice for real opponents like the shadows."

Gawain had no words and settled for shaking his head trying not the think about anymore excursion like the one last night. Cu Chulainn had finally stopped laughing and began hitting on Medusa who was giving him the cold shoulder.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/02, Dojima residence, Inaba]

It was the evening and night had fallen. Both Yu and Nanako sat eating dinner together.

"Isn't this fried chicken good?" Nanako asked.

"Yeah, it is." Yu looked at the TV.

The phone rang, and Nanako perked up.

"Maybe it's Dad!"

Yu watched the girl pop up to answer, but quickly turned his attention back to the TV.

"Hello?" Nanako chirped. "Uh-huh? Oh…" Her face fell. "Okay. I see." She turned to Yu. ""Daddy wants to talk to you."

Yu took the phone getting a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Hello?"

"Hey there, I'm sorry, but I'm gonna be working late tonight" Dojima sighed and flipped some paperwork. "Feel free to lock the door and hit he sack if you want."

"Yeah sure, no problem." Yu said to his uncle.

' _Why do I get the feeling this isn't all he has to say?_ ' Cu Chulainn sighed shaking his head.

"Oh and about us taking off on the fourth and the fifth… one of our rookies got pretty sick and it doesn't look like the case he was working on will wait until he gets back, so I'm stuck filling in."

"Nanako will be crushed when she finds out." Yu whispered into the phone.

"I-I know….I know….I'm sorry… can you to watch over Nanako for me?" Dojima requested apologetically.

"Alright." Yu conceded with a disappointed sigh.

"Thanks." Dojima hung up leaving Yu to put the phone back in its cradle.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/03, Dojima residence, Inaba]

The next morning the doorbell rang. Yu opened it up and was surprised to see Chie cheerfully standing outside the door.

"Good morning'!" Chie saluted as soon as the front door slid open.

"Chie?" Yu blinked.

He hadn't expected anyone to come over, he wasn't really used to people coming over to ask him to hang out. This was mainly due to having no friends because of how he moved constantly.

"So, are you free today?" Chie asked enthusiastically "Because if you are, you wanna hang with us? Yukiko will be there," her voice became less enthusiastic as she rolled her eyes. "And if we have to, we can invite Yosuke, too."

"Sorry, but I can't today." Yu said with a sigh.

It would be wrong of him to just take off with his friends when his little cousin had been eagerly anticipating Golden Week only for it to be cancelled at the last minute.

The sound of small feet padding against the floor drew Chie's attention. She peered past her friend to see a little girl wearing a white turtleneck under a sleeveless dress in pink and two shades of red, white socks and pink shoes.

"Hm? Oh," she smiled and leaned down to be more at his eye level. "You must be Nanako, Whadaya say, you wanna join us?"

Nanako gave off a squeak and didn't say anything instead opting to look at her cousin who had an assuring smile on his face that seemed to put her at ease at ease.

"Come on, it'll be fun." Yu encouraged her with a friendly tone.

"You sure it's ok?" she ventured still a bit nervous.

"'Course it is!" Chie's smile remained. "And you'll have a great time."

"Can we go now?"

Yu hurried to put on his shoes as Nanako went upstairs to get dressed, and left holding his cousin's hand all the way.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/03, Junes, Food Court Inaba]

"Tada!" Yosuke slapped a plate of meat onto the round metal table in front of the little girl. "One giant steak!"

The cut was bigger than Nanako's head, and smelled delicious. "Wow! It looks yummy!"

Chie swiped the cutlery from Yosuke's hand with a growl.

"My god, you're slow!" She offered it to their small guest, with a large smile. "Here. Dig in, Nanako. Eat it all up."

Nanako thanked her politely.

"You may have to chew it a lot." Yukiko stated. "They don't have the best quality steak here."

"Aw, come on. At least don't say that stuff while I'm standing right here." Yosuke balked. He flopped down into one of the chairs at the table and sloppily pulled his the apron.

"Are you through with work now?" Yu asked, taking a bite of her own steak.

"Nah, I'm just on a break," He sighed and glanced around the busy rooftop. "But dude, what are you guys doing wasting your whole Golden Week hanging out here at the Junes food court?"

"There's nowhere else to go." Chie snapped at him.

"But what about Nanako?" Yosuke frowned. "You bring her here? Of all the places you could take her?"

"Yeah," Yukiko said with a sad sigh. "I feel so bad for her."

"You know, there are worse places on earth." Yosuke said defensively changing his tune.

All of sudden Nanako perked up when the Junes jingle played over the loudspeakers.

"Every day's great at your Junes!" She sang along to the jingle, rocking in her seat. "I love Junes!" Nanako giggled.

"And I love Nanako!" Yosuke exclaimed, his heart soaring at having someone on his side.

"The only thing missing is the picnic. We're supposed to have a picnic basket today." Nanako popped another piece of steak in her mouth and began chewing it.

"A picnic?" Yukiko leaned in. "Were you going to make the picnic?"

Nanako shook his head and turned a knowing smile to his older cousin.

Yu froze midway through a bite of steak when everyone's eyes turned to him.

"So," Yosuke sat up, impressed that the new, cute, transfer student had made such lofty plans. "You were going to make a mean picnic basket, huh?"

"Yeah, Just for fun." Yu replied nonchalantly.

Chie leaned on one hand, grinning.

"Really? That's cool you were going to make a picnic for the whole family." Her smile widened and her tone became a teasing one. "Big bro."

Nanako looked up at Yu from her plate of steak and blinked.

"Big bro?"

"Seriously," Yosuke added light heartedly. "I think the fact that you were going to do that is totally impressive. It means you've already got better cooking skills than Chie."

"Wait a sec!" Chie brandished her fork and knife threateningly. "What the hell makes you think I don't know how to cook, huh?!"

"Wait." Yukiko looked genuinely confused now. "So you can?"

Nanako joined her shock, pausing through a cut of meat. "You can cook?"

"Ok, it's a cook off between you and me!" Chie shouted unamused as she pointed accusingly at Yosuke.

"Ok, bring it on." He said meeting her challenge with a smug grin.

Chie froze; she hadn't expected him to call her bluff. Now she couldn't back down. Worse, she knew for a fact that she couldn't cook home meals that well.

"We'll need an impartial person to be our judge." He grinned at the little girl slurping down a soft drink clutched in both hands. "That's you, Nanako."

"Huh?" She looked up, confused.

"Am I competing to?" Yukiko asked.

"I'm pretty good," Yosuke bragged. "I might even whip up something better than your own mom's cooking," He added a laugh trying to keep the mood light.

Nanako's hand froze. She glanced up from her food, locking her eyes on Yu before looking at her soda again.

"Probably, I don't have a mom." she said it like with a neutral tone. "She died in an accident." She sipped more of her drink.

Everyone's mood crashed. Chie suddenly felt something tap her leg from the side. She looked to see Yu still sitting at the table smiling up at her, another tap this time slightly harder, Yu's eyes quickly motioned towards Yosuke and back a couple of times. Another tap to her leg and she got the message.

"Idiot!"

"AUGH!" Yosuke exclaimed as he received a powerful kick to the leg from Chie.

"S-sorry." Yosuke groaned, regretfully both of the fact that he had something so ignorant and the fact that he couldn't complain about Chie kicking him this time, because he did kind of deserve it. "I didn't know. Um...sorry"

"Why?" The little girl set the cup down and smiled slightly. "I do just fine. I don't have a mommy, but I still have my daddy around and…" she blushed slightly. "I have a big brother."

Yu looked at his cousin with surprise; he hadn't expected to be so important to her.

Nanako wrapped her hands around the cup. "Plus, I got to visit Junes today." She looked up, a broad smile adorning her face. "And it's really fun!"

The metal chair legs screech along the cement as Yosuke and Chie burst up from their seats.

"Anytime you want someone to play with you, Nanako, just let us know! We'll be there!" Chie offered joyfully.

"Yeah, just ask us," Yukiko chimed in.

"Ok, thanks." Nanako nodded going back to slurping her soda.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/04, Okina city, Inaba]

Yesterday after spending the day with Nanako Yu took Marie back to Junes where they saw Chie who as per usual wanted more steak. They had joined her for lunch and Chie had run off to get drinks after Marie pointed out that if she ate so fast she would get fat. Marie had then admitted that she didn't know her real name and Marie was name that Margaret had given her.

Today Yu decided to take Marie to Okina City. He had brought Marie by train to satisfy her curiosity about the big city.

"Yu and oh, Marie!" Chie's voice exclaimed.

They turned around to see both Chie and Yukiko approaching.

"Hello. Um…Is she your friend, Narukami?" Yukiko asked.

"Oh right…you haven't met her before, huh?" Chie realised. "This is Marie; I had lunch with her and Yu yesterday in the afternoon. This is Yukiko Amagi, She's our friend."

"…Friend," Marie echoed…as if she was tasting a new kind of food for the first time.

"If she's someone you know, then she must not be from around here, right?" Yukiko asked.

"She does travel a lot…" Yu said. It was technically true; the Velvet Room took the form a car and was always on the move.

"Did she come from the big city?" Yukiko inquired.

"Oh, so THAT must be why she's in Okina then…" Chie said with realisation. "There's diddly-squat to do around where we live right? Yeah I know that feeling."

Marie looked at Yu, "…and a red one today. What are Green and Red doing here?"

"Green and… red?" Yukiko echoed with surprise ignoring Francis Drake's snickers as the pirate appeared in spirit form. "…green and red?!"

"Ah… Haha… I was wearing green last time I saw you, wasn't I?" Chie realised with a wince as Li Shuwen laughed at her.

"I didn't say it was bad. You look good in those colours." Marie stated.

"Oh, uh… Th-Thanks….I didn't think it was a compliment." Chie chuckled.

"She's a nice girl. There's no doubt about that."

"But Red Girl's all red. Does Green Girl always wear the same thing all the time?" Marie asked causing Yu to sweat drop.

"To the point as ever…" Chie mumbled.

"But she's right," Yukiko realised, looking downcast.

"No, that's not what I meant," Marie clarified. "It's just…It's a waste. Humans can change their clothes, right? You should try wearing other clothes."

"I-Is that so…?" Yukiko said nervously. "I don't always pick out my own outfits…I usually get opinions."

"I know!" Chie said. "We were just on our way to get some new clothes. Why don't you come with us, Yu? And you too Marie."

"Chie they already have plans of their own, don't just assume that they can come at a moments notice." Yukiko admonished her friend.

"I don't mind," Yu said, and then looked at Marie to see what she thought.

"Huh? I…don't mind…" She said echoing Yu.

Yukiko and Chie looked Happy and then each took Marie by the arm, she looked rather looked uncomfortable as they began pulling her along to the clothing store.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/04, Croco Fur, Okina city, Inaba]

"Hey, how's this shirt? Don't you think it's a good colour?" Chie said holding up a green shirt.

"I don't know…" Yu said tactfully attempting to hurt no ones feelings.

"It's green." Marie pointed out bluntly.

"Whoa! You're right!" Chie exclaimed looking surprised. "Why do I keep buying myself green clothes?!" Then she smiled. "Marie, what's your favourite colour? Don't tell me…blue, right?"

"Er, I don't really have one…" Marie answered looking uncomfortable.

Chie sweat dropped at that, and kept looking through the clothes.

Yukiko who had been looking at clothes on a different rack turned around "What do you think of this skirt? Is it too mature for me?" She asked holding up a crimson skirt.

"It is an eye catching colour." Yu stated carefully.

"It is...eye-catchingly red." Marie pointed out causing Francis Drake and Li Shuwen to burst into another fit of laughter. "And you look like someone lit your head on fire." She said looking at Li Shuwen causing him to choke and Francis Drake to snort with laughter. "You look like a pirate but you don't have a hat."

" _Oh yeah I left it at ho-you see us?"_ the pirate stated as the realisation finally hit her.

"Woah she can see them?" Chie exclaimed.

"Oh yeah, sorry I forgot she can see our Persona's in Spirit Form like we can." Yu explained.

"Wait how?" Yukiko asked only to receive a shrug in return from both Marie and Yu.

"Oh man this is weird. You attract all sorts don't you Narukami?" Chie commented going back to rummaging through a clothes rack before pulling out a green jacket. "What about this? Does this say 'me'?"

"Green again?"

"How about this one? Away with simplicity!" Yukiko said pulling out a multi-coloured dress.

"There are too many colours with that one. I'm getting dizzy" Marie commented.

" _I'm with the blue capped lass on this._ " Francis Drake said agreeing with Marie.

" _I forgot how much I like this girl._ " Cu Chulainn chuckled " _She's as blunt as you are._ "

"This skirt's cute! It would go well with… How's this?" Chie said displaying a yellow shirt and a blue skirt.

"At least it's not green…" Marie said.

"Wait… But, Yellow and blue… make green, right?" Yukiko pointed out.

" _Indeed it does._ " Li Shuwen said with a smirk.

Everybody but Yukiko, Li Shuwen and Francis Drake sweat dropped.

"Oh, Ahahaha, you're right. Maybe it's some kind of instinct…?" Chie said, embarrassed.

" _You instinctively seek out the colour green; perhaps I can work that into your training regimen._ " Li Shuwen pondered stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"You're not doing it on purpose…?" Marie asked stunned.

Eventually Yukiko and Chie finished their shopping and returned to the train station with Yu and Marie.

"Ugh…" Chie said with visible disappointment, "Why was everything in my size out?"

"It can't be helped. Let's go back sometime later. They might have some new inventory by then.  
" Yukiko said with a smile.

"Yeah…Let's go together…all of us…" Chie said.

"Huh…? Me, too? Why?" Marie asked, stunned.

"Because we're friends…that's why!" Chie said with surprise.

"…Friends? We are? Since when?" Marie said.

"Wait…you didn't have fun?" Chie asked, looking hurt. "W-Was I bothering you today? …And last time, too…?"

"Huh? No, you weren't bothering me. I was just asking why you said 'friends'," Marie replied. "What does it mean to become friends?"

Chie recovered from her apparent hurt and said, "Well…I don't really know. The meaning of friendship…? Hmmm…"

"There's meaning." Yu said plainly.

"Yes, I believe there is meaning…" Yukiko said "There are things you can't do by yourself that you can do together with others…"

Marie looked like she was getting the meaning...

"Like today. We had you to help us choose our clothes." Yukiko continued.

"…I don't get it. After all…" Marie said sounding sad as she trailed off.

"I almost forgot! There's a DVD I wanted!" Chie broke in ruining the mood.

Everyone looked at her with disbelief.

"Let's hurry! It'll sell out!" Chie exclaimed.

"It's a kung fu movie right? I doubt it will sell out." Yukiko sighed.

"Enough talk! Come on, Everybody! Hustle!" Chie yelled ignoring Yukiko and running off with Yukiko in pursuit, this left Yu was with Marie.

"Huh? Me too?" Marie asked.

"Let's hurry." Yu said.

"I don't get it. It's not like I don't wanna go, though."

"That's the spirit…" Yu smiled at the girl.

Marie was lost in thought for a second.

"Hey, and those other two are Persona-users, right? They're 'chasing after the truth' with you, huh…?" Marie paused and gained a thoughtful look on her face. "You can't do that on your own, but you can do it together? Because you're friends…?"

Marie fell silent, thinking deeply about what Yukiko had said to her about friendship.

"Hey! Pick it up, you two! Move, move, move!" Chie yelled.

Marie nodded once and then started walking, Yu naturally followed her, after a but longer exploring the city Yu decided to escort Marie back to the Velvet Room.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/05, Dojima Residence, Inaba]

"I'm home," Dojima called carrying two bags. One with food, the other with something else.

"How many days is he gonna call in sick?" Dojima sighed as he shuffled in "These rookies sure are…"

"Welcome back!" Nanako said excitedly.

"Nanako… I'm sorry I broke my promise again…" Dojima apologised looking very disheartened.

"OH! Um, my big bro and his friends played with me instead."

"I see… thanks." Dojima said

"Nothing to it." Yu said.

"Oh, what's in the Junes bag?" Nanako asked excitedly.

"Good eye. Well, today is the 5th of May, isn't it? That means it's Children's Day…"

He then took out a T-shirt from the bag, and gave it to Nanako.

"Ohhh, a T-shirt! And it has a funny picture on it." Nanako exclaimed happily.

"I'm not saying you're a kid or anything but to keep things fair..." Dojima then pulled out a pair of swimming trunks from the bag; they were light purple, with green and yellow stripes with green arrows bordering a yellow box and a heart with a cupid's arrow through it.

"Well, all right. Good. Glad you like them!" Dojima said gladly.

"Dad, Big Bro, let's all eat together, OK?" Nanako suggested with a smile.

"That's a great idea. It's been ages since we ate together." Dojima agreed.

"Yeah, way too long, we need to dig in before the steak gets cold." Nanako said.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/06, Junes Food Court, Inaba]

The next day the group had gathered for a study session before exams began. However Yosuke was passed out over his book.

"Yosuke insisted on us cramming together and now he's passed out on us." Chie complained looking at the boy who was snoring.

"Hey you know what; there hasn't been a single incident in Golden Week." Yukiko pointed out. "It's odd."

"That's what I was thinking!" Yosuke exclaimed suddenly sitting back up as if hadn't been sound asleep at all. "It's something we need to discuss."

"Sheesh it's like he just came back from the dead!" Chie said with an annoyed tone.

"He looks good for dead…" Yu commented seriously.

"Don't I though?" Yosuke grinned pulling out a notebook "Now that you've brought it up I've put a lot of thought into this and here's what I've come up with. The first victim was Ms Yamano after her it was Saki and then Yukiko here was the third. I don't think the victims were picked at random."

" _The criminal had a motive? I think you've cracked the case._ " A regal feminine voice commented sarcastically.

In Spirit Form next to Yu appeared a slender woman who could be described as a peerlessly beautiful woman, wrapped in a dress that was as dark as midnight, who seemed to emanate a pleasing aroma.

"W-who are you?" Chie asked.

" _Under class of Assassin in the Arcana of the Magician, I am Semiramis the Wise Queen of Assyria._ " The Persona introduced herself.

"Oh I think I've heard of you, I think I read that you were responsible for the first recorded murder by poisoning." Yukiko stated.

" _Very good._ " Semiramis said with a smirk. " _There is always a motive for murder. Murderers who have no motive are more often than not simple butchers who will rarely try to hide their identities._ "

"Besides there's no link between them Yosuke." Chie pointed out.

"Actually that's not true." Yosuke replied "It's nothing concrete but all three victims are linked. Saki is linked to Ms Yamano because she's the one who first found her corpse, and Ms Yamano is linked to you Yukiko because she stayed at your inn right?"

"Yes that's right." The Amagi Girl confirmed.

" _But you have a problem._ " Semiramis interjected " _There is no link between Saki and Yukiko and further you have yet to explain the motive. All you have to go on is the fact that females associated with Mayumi Yamano are being targeted and even that is shaky at best._ "

"…Admittedly I don't have the answers to those questions." Yosuke confessed looking downcast "But if we don't start fitting together the few pieces we do have then we might not get anywhere."

"Wait a sec." Yukiko put a finger on her chin thoughtfully. "I remember the doorbell ringing and someone calling my name but what I can't remember is who it was, sorry." Yukiko also looked depressed.

"That's not your fault; you got no reason to apologise." Chie said to her friend reassuringly.

"We need to factor in what we see on the Midnight Channel as well." Yu put in.

"That's true." Yosuke said looking to the side. "You know thinking back it may have been trying to warn us as to who the next victim would be."

"A warning…..well if that's the case then we should check the Midnight Channel every night it rains." Yukiko suggested.

"If it helps prevent another murder then we should definitely do that." Yu agreed.

"Alrighty then" Yosuke stood up and put his bag on his shoulder. "Now that we're eon the same page you are all dismissed for the day."

"Yosuke!" Yu said the name of the Magician slowly yet dangerously causing him to freeze. "Did you just try to use the case to get out studying for our mid terms in two days?"

"W-Hey you jerk!" Chie growled "You wasted my valuable studying time cause you don't want to study?!"

"N-no it's not like that I mean….er..."

"Yosuke. Sit. Down." Yosuke immediately complied with Yu's command. "Now Study."

"Yes Sir" Yosuke found himself unable to object to Yu's serious tone and opened the text book in front of him. Three days later on the ninth of May the exams began.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/12, Class 2-2, Yasogami High, Inaba]

The remaining three days passed like lightning and soon it was Monday and Mid Terms began. Yu had managed to force Yosuke to study and thus himself. Throughout the four days of the exams his pencil seemed to move on its own as he had paid attention in class. Before he knew it Thursdays exams had come and gone, although Yosuke was mysteriously absent from the final test.

Yukiko and Yu were sitting in class putting their books away while Chie stared off into space completely wiped out.

"Phew, free at last." Yosuke said with a sigh as he walked into the classroom.

"Yeah it's all over." Chie said with relief.

"So where have you been?" Yu asked him.

"Well I was pretty sure it didn't matter if I showed up or not, I would still get the same grade." Yosuke explained in an easy-going tone.

"Man I wish I was so easy going about things." Chie sighed in an envying tone.

"So do you think you did pretty well on the test?" Yukiko turned around and asked Yu.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/12, Dojima Residence, Inaba]

"Not too bad." Yu said to his Uncle later on during dinner when he asked him the same question that Yukiko had earlier.

"That answer's kind of vague." Dojima chuckled as he put some more food in his mouth.

" _Tonight; we have some special footage for you._ " The TV Anchor said " _A masked vigilante identified himself as Space Samurai Y helped a young man in defeating an apparent rival biker gang. After helping the young man, Space Samurai Y fled the scene._ "

On the TV it showed Space Samurai Y and Kanji's battle against the bikers. They even showed the pose he made when he landed on the first biker and took his wooden sword.

" _Who the hell are you supposed to be?_ " gang leader on TV demanded.

" _I'm glad you asked delinquent scum._ " Came the deep and heroic voice of the masked man. " _I have heard the cries of the people living in this area forced to suffer the intolerable noise you thugs make night after night, yet even as this brave young man_ _crushes you time and again like a rash on the towns backside you continue to flare up, well rapscallions no more for I am this towns rash soothing cream, prepare to taste the fury of..._ " he struck a pose like a capital Y " _Space Samurai...Y!"_

" _That never gets old!"_ Cu Chulainn laughed loudly at the footage, while Semiramis and Medusa stuck to refined giggling, Gawain however remained silent.

The footage then became one of the ensuing battles, the Samurai and Kanji watched each others backs and dominated the battle sending bikers flying with fists and sword blows.

"Great, I'm not surprised that Tatsumi is pulling that crap, but now a masked lunatic too?" Dojima let out a long suffering sigh. "I can see the mountain of paperwork this guy is gonna cause already, and I just bet the chief is gonna want him caught."

"Who're they?" Nanako asked.

"The blond is Kanji Tatsumi, a troubled teen who loves to fight." Dojima said letting out another sigh. "I've never heard of this Space Samurai Y guy though."

"That's so cool; he's like a real live superhero!" Nanako exclaimed joyfully as the Samurai on TV leapt away onto the roof with an inhuman jump.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/15, Dojima Residence, Inaba]

Two days passed and later the night on the fifteenth Yu was in his room, he looked out the window and sure enough, it was raining, he swept the curtains shut.

The clock clicked down to midnight, and like clockwork the television turned itself on. On the screen Yu could make out a human figure…the jacket he could make out was unmistakable…it was Kanji Tatsumi he was next.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/16, Junes Food Court, Junes, Inaba]

"Now that we are all gathered I hereby begin a meeting of the Special Investigation Unit for the Inaba Serial Murders and Kidnappings." Yosuke declared proudly.

"That's long." Chie grumbled.

"So this is our secret headquarters?" Yukiko asked.

"That's right! Yukiko is on top of it!" Yosuke grinned proud that someone was thinking like he was.

"Moving on…the guy that was on the Midnight Channel…" Yu cleared his throat. "I think it was Kanji Tatsumi."

"Yeah, seeing him totally blows my female victims theory out of the water." Yosuke groaned "And he had no connection to Ms Yamano either."

"Kanji Tatsumi?" Yukiko asked. "He wasn't like this when he was little…"

"Yukiko, you know that psychopath?" Chie asked stunned that her friend would know such a person.

"Yes, his family owns a textile store, our the Inn has sold their stuff in our shop for ages. But I haven't talked to Kanji for a super long time."

"Well that sure does make things easy!" Yosuke grinned "I say we swing by and pay a little visit to this textile shop." Yosuke stood up.

Yukiko nodded. "Your right… If people we see on the Midnight Channel are being pushed into their Televisions…"

"…Then Kanji is next." Yu finished.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/16, Tatsumi Textiles, North Shopping district, Inaba]

When they entered the textile shop, they found that an old lady that Yu assumed to be Mrs Tatsumi was talking to a boy wearing blue detective clothing. Even the boy's eyes and messy, short hair were blue.

"Ah, Yuki! Come on in!" Mrs Tatsumi greeted.

"I think I will be taking my leave." The boy said after studying the group for a few seconds.

"I'm sorry I couldn't have been of more help." Mrs. Tatsumi apologized.

"Not at all, you've given me a lot to think about." With that the boy walked out, giving Yu a cold look for a few seconds as their gazes met.

"What was that all about?" Yosuke wondered looking after the boy.

"Yuki! You're as beautiful as ever!'

"Oh, thank you. You're too nice." Yukiko smiled. "Uh, is Kanji here?"

"No I'm afraid he's still not back yet."

While they continued to talk, Yu spotted something on one of the racks. It was a pink scarf with snowflake pattern embroidered on it. "I've seen this scarf somewhere before." He said walking over to it.

"Yeah, I think I have, too." Chie tapped her chin before coming to a realisation. "Oh I know wasn't it in that creepy room we saw?

"So it was Ms Yamano's scarf?"

"Yes," Mrs Tatsumi confirmed "Were you friends with Mrs. Yamano?"

"I wouldn't say friends." Yosuke scratched the back of his head.

"Mrs. Yamano had that scarf custom made for her."

"Excuse me delivery!" A voice knocked at the back door.

"Oh Coming!" Mrs. Tatsumi stood up. "I'm sorry but I really must attend to this."

"No it's okay. We really should be going now anyway." Yukiko nodded.

As they came out into the street, Yosuke signalled for them to stop.

"Shit! It's Kanji! Hide!" At Yosuke's prompting everyone hid behind a mailbox.

"You wanna have a talk with me?" Kanji asked the blue haired boy.

"That's right." the blue haired boy replied "I find you incredibly intriguing."

"Uh, well I guess that's cool…" Kanji said glancing away from the boy.

"I'm glad to hear it, I'll be waiting for after school tomorrow." The boy said before walking away.

"He finds me intriguing?" Kanji blushed. "He's a dude that finds another dude intriguing. But does that mean he's…"

Kanji stopped as something caught his attention.

"Hey! Whaddaya you looking at?" Kanji screamed at the group

Everyone got up and ran; he waved his fists at them. Kanji glared after them. "Tch… What's their problem?"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/17 School Gate, Yasogami, Inaba]

The next day the Investigation Team were near the gate of Yasogami High, watching Kanji and waiting the boy he'd spoken to yesterday to arrive.

"Look, there he is!" Chie whispered.

"I'm sorry, were you waiting long?" The blue-garbed teenager asked walking up to Kanji and glancing around the school.

"No, It's cool… I just got here myself." Kanji replied.

The boy walked off, and Kanji followed after him.

"Something about them just doesn't add up." Chie said suspiciously.

"Really why do you think that?" Yosuke asked.

"Well I don't know maybe my imagination is just running wild." Chie replied rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

" _Or it's your instincts trying to tell you something._ " Li Shuwen suggested.

"Really ya think?" Chie asked.

" _Indeed, you are progressing well in your training for a beginner._ " Li Shuwen replied nodding his head " _Instinct is a useful tool in battle, hone and learn to trust them._ "

"Whatever!" Yosuke said. "Chie and I will keep an eye on Kanji."

"What?" Chie asked.

"Why don't you and Yukiko keep an eye on the Textile shop?" Yosuke suggested.

"Let's go!" Yosuke ran after the two boys.

"W-wait!" Chie ran after him.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/17 Tatsuhime Shrine, North Shopping District, Inaba]

As they were waiting at Tatsuhime Shrine, keeping an eye on Tatsumi Textiles, Yukiko came to Yu with two bottles of Soda in her hands.

"Sorry about the wait… This one's for you." She said handing Yu a soda.

"Everything seems fine at the shop. I hope it stays that way." Yukiko said "Do you think the culprit will come?"

"No worries, I'll protect you if he does."

"Huh...? O-Okay...Thanks." Yukiko blushed "...I'm counting on you. It would be scary if the culprit did show up…" Yukiko looked troubled. "But if they do, I'll do what I can to help you catch them." Yukiko fidgeted nervously. "You all saved my life… I don't want to be the only one doing nothing. I mean… I'm sure there's something I can do… Oh…Sorry. I went on and on without realizing… I-I guess I'm a little nervous."

Yukiko then looked away shyly and began to blush. "I've never chatted with a boy my own age like this before… Chie, of course, has no problem getting along with guys because of her personality. But I think she's had more fun hanging out with you, and Yosuke, lately. The same is true for me."

"Say I was wondering have you noticed anything different about yourself lately?" Yu asked "Physically I mean."

"Physically? Well I have noticed that I'm faster, more agile than I was." Yukiko replied thoughtfully "Like the other day I was going taking a drink to serve to a guest at the Inn and I tripped. The cup was already falling and the drink was spilling but I managed to catch it and the drink itself back in the cup. It happened so fast that I thought I was seeing things. I tried to forget it until Chie told me that while she was training in the woods with Li Shuwen one of her kicks toppled a whole tree. I know it sounds crazy but…"

"Don't worry I've noticed it too." Yu reassured the Amagi girl "I've noticed that I'm stronger and faster too, it's kind of how I did so well in the Basketball game a few weeks back."

"I wonder how this is possible." Yukiko wondered. "I tried asking Rider about it, but she said that she has no idea. That it would be best to ask someone adept at magic and stuff."

"I tried asking my own Persona's but none of them were ever fully devoted to magic so they didn't have any answers either." Yu told her "But maybe I'll get a Persona that will be able to explain what's happening to us."

"Thanks, its not that I don't want these powers, I know we'll need them for the investigation if anymore people get thrown into the TV. I'm just afraid…what if I slip up and hurt someone by mistake?"

"That won't happen; I think it's just a matter of learning control, maybe Li Shuwen would be willing to help if you're afraid?" Yu suggested.

"Oh yeah, being a Martial Artist means knowing how to control your strength so he'd definitely know how to help me. Thank you!" Yukiko said with a smile.

"By the way can I have your cell phone number?" Yu asked suddenly changing the subject.

"Huh? O-okay if you want." Yukiko was blushing again caught off guard by Yu's sudden request. "I can't always answer, since I help out around. But feel free to call anytime."

"Thanks." Yu said exchanging numbers with Yukiko.

"Umm…I wonder how Chie and Yosuke are doing."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/17 Samegawa Flood Plain, Inaba]

Kanji was just walking along with the boy who wanted to meet with him.

"Tell me." Kanji jumped, blushing at the smaller boy's sudden talking.

"Do you mind if I cut to the chase and ask you some questions?" The boy in blue asked.

"Oh, yeah… Sure."

Yosuke hid behind a telephone pole and put his phone up to his ear. "Yosuke to Chie…Yosuke to Chie… Do you copy? Over."

"I hear ya. The target is conversing two hundred meters in front of me. Over."

"So do you mind telling me why we're using our phones?" Yosuke asked looking to see that Chie was about five feet away from him, crouching behind a mailbox.

"Because if he saw us together, it'd be too obvious. Over. Dork."

"Over is supposed to be the last thing you say."

"Listen I just think we need to have a little space between us. Dork. Over."

"Then this stakeout is a total bust then. He could easily nab us at anytime. Over."

"Enough of this. I'm getting the munchies. Over."

"Like I care! If you're so hungry then why don't you just call delivery or something?"

"Delivery?" Chie blinked. "But we're standing on a corner."

"Don't you know Aiya says her place delivers anywhere." Yosuke explained "You just gotta call her up and ask."

"What for real?" She ended the call and punched in a new number. "Hello? I'd like to order delivery two orders of nikudon, please!"

"I don't ask for anything!" Yosuke said angrily at her.

"Who said I was getting anything for you? I placed both those orders for me!" Chie snapped glaring at him.

"Well of course you did."

"Well actually… I'm at the corner of…" A shadow fell over the arguing duo.

"Just whaddaya think your doing?" Kanji towered over them, a suspicious look on his face.

Both of them froze up. Yosuke was the first to speak.

"We're just an everyday loving couple passing by!" Yosuke lied nervously.

"Yeah right!" Chie screamed.

"Don't work against me stupid… this is working!" Yosuke whispered.

"You couldn't come up with something else!" Chie persisted.

While this was happening the boy in blue walked away.

"Hey, didn't I seen you yesterday?" Kanji asked pausing to think for a second.

"We're not trying to follow you or anything!" Chie said rapidly in a panic "Nor do we think you might be gay but if you are that's totally cool too."

"Did you say gay?" Kanji blushed heavily.

"Chie you moron you just couldn't keep your mouth shut!" Yosuke griped at Chie. "Run for it!" He sprinted off.

"What a sec? Yosuke-don't leave me standing here!" Chie dashed after him.

"Hey! Get back here!" Kanji screamed giving chase to the duo. "I know what it looks like but your wrong, it's not like that!"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/17 Tatsuhime Shrine, North Shopping District, Inaba]

Yu and Yukiko heard a familiar screaming pair of voices getting closer.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Chie and Yosuke came even using some of their enhanced speed to do so.

"Sorry we brought trouble." Yosuke yelled running past Yu and Yukiko.

"I'll beat you and beat you good!" Kanji howled after them. "There ain't gonna be nothing left of you!"

"He's behind them?" Yukiko said watching Chie and Yosuke run.

"We should run." Yu dashed down the steps, with Yukiko following him.

"Great." Yosuke panted. "He's gonna get us all at this rate!" They were high-tailing it down the streets on Inaba at a faster speed than most students their age could run. It was actually pretty impressive that Kanji was able to keep up with them.

"You're so dead! You're so freaking dead!" Kanji screamed angrily as he continued to chase them

"Hey, Chie time for you to shake him off our tail!" Yosuke turned to the girl running beside him.

"Huh why me?!"

"You know that line in the movies… 'You keeping going and I'll handle this guy'… Well now's your chance to say it!"

"I _have_ always wanted to say that…" Chie said seriously considering it.

"Chie don't let him trick you!" Yukiko cried.

"I said to stop running from me you- Huh? What the hell?" A motorcycle sped past Kanji.

Aika drove a small delivery motorcycle and matched the speed of the running teenagers.

"I've got your order here, two bowls of Nikudon." Aika said dutifully. "The total is sixteen hundred yen."

"This is just weird" Yosuke cried sparing a glance at Aika who held out a tray with two bowls on it.

"Sorry, do you have any change?" Chie asked rummaging into her pockets.

"Here's 100 yen, Chie!" Yukiko pulled a coin out of her purse.

"Save it for later!" Yosuke yelled.

"Thanks." Chie paid the Aika and took the tray.

"When you're done just leave the bowls." Aika said.

"WHERE THE HELL DO WE DO THAT?!" Yosuke screamed as the girl accelerated and drove off.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

A little while later the team had finally managed to ditch Yosuke and were catching their breath under a bridge.

"We finally ditched that guy." Yosuke gasped leaning against a wall.

"Chie… Is it good?" Yukiko turned to look at her friend. The martial artist had sat down and begun digging into her meal.

"Yeah it is." Chie sighed happily. "It's delicious!"

"Man this sucks we totally failed on our first mission. We might as well give up." Yosuke threw his hands up and began walking away.

"But what will happen to Kanji?" Yukiko queried.

"That guys gonna be fine on his own." Yosuke sighed pausing to answer Yukiko. "He won't let anyone take him down without a fight."

"Lets still keep an eye on him just a bit longer." Yu suggested.

"Alright sure, but we are done for today." Yosuke sighed waving as he walked off.

"Hey guys?" Chie called out holding two empty bowls. "Where do you think I should leave the bowls?"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[Wizard Marshal Zelretchs office, Clock Tower, London]

Waver Velvet a.k.a Lord El Melloi II entered Zelretchs office with a few pieces of paper in hand. When he approached the desk of the Old Man of the Jewels whose chair was face away from the door he cleared his throat to gain the old vampires attention.

"I was just wondering about you Waver." Zelretch said trying to get comfortable in his chair.

"Wondering what exactly?" Waver asked in a no nonsense tone.

"Why you've stopped replacing your familiars in Inaba." Zelretch snickered knowingly.

"Because I became sick of that girl find and destroying them all the time." Waver snapped before coughing and regaining his composure. "Anyway I sent a notice to the Nakamura family; they'll take over monitoring the situation for us as well as do damage control just in case."

"It was a good a idea to have them placed there in advance, Grail Wars have a tendency to get….messy." Zelretch commented.

"The group has begun investigating one Kanji Tatsumi another candidate that you selected." Waver informed him. "According to the Nakamura's he appeared on the Midnight Channel."

"That explains it. It looks like things are starting move into high gear." Zelretch commented taking a sip of some wine he had in a glass nearby.

"There are a couple of things that concern me." Waver continued reading off the papers he had in his hand. "Yosuke Hanamuras communication with his Persona, Diarmuid Ua Dubhine has dropped to an all time low. Do you think we should be concerned?"

"Nah, Command Seals or no Diarmuid would never rebel against his master." Zelretch waved him off "Not this time. So what was your other concern?"

"Apparently the Church intends to have an someone in Inaba report to them about the situation." Waver explained "They never said why nor do I know why they even bothered to tell me in the first place."

"Perhaps I touched a sensitive spot somehow?"

"This is becoming one big mess." Waver sighed. "This could get dangerous with the Church involved."

"If it helps you sleep at night Lord El-Melloi the second, I'll do my best to smooth things over with the Church." Zelretch gave Waver a mocking smile and took victory when saw a vein bulging on Waver's forehead. "Did they mention who the agent was?"

"No they didn't." Waver replied shaking his head.

"This can only get more interesting." Zelretch said leaning back in his chair and taking a sip of his wine.

"That is what I am afraid of." Waver said with a long suffering sigh.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: That's right everyone the Church has an agent in Inaba. A cyber cookie to anyone who can successfully guess who it is.


	7. Reconciliation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or Fate or anything in the nasuverse, any resemblance to any other Persona 4/Fate fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.

 

[05/18 Dojima Residence, Inaba]

A little while later after finally losing Kanji and a day of not being able to catch the killer in hopes of spotting him trying to abduct Kanji the team had parted ways and gone home. However, when midnight rolled around, it was raining outside and sure enough the Midnight Channel came on clearly this time, as expected the shadow of one Kanji Tatsumi, who was naked save for a towel around his private areas.

"Hellloooo…dear viewers it's time for Bad, Bad Bathhouse!" The shadow displayed its muscles. " Tonight, I'll introduce a superb site for those searching for sublime love that surpasses the separation of the sexes! " H

Yu's mind went blank as he watched Kanji's shadow flaunting itself half-naked.

" I'm your host, Kanji Tatsumi, serving you this scandalously special sneak-in report! Goodness gracious, just imagine the things that might happen to me there! Ooooh! Well then, let's get this show on the road! Tootaloo!" Shadow Kanji turned around and ran towards the bathhouse entrance before the screen went black.

Yu looked stunned for a second before feeling something his phone vibrate. He withdrew it from his pocket and saw Chie's number on the screen.

"Hello?" he greeted her after taking a second regain his composure.

"Yu?"

"Yes?"

"What the hell was that?" Chie asked in a low voice clearly stunned.

"That was Kanji's shadow alright." The grey-haired boy sat back on his sofa. "It must be acting out because of whatever he's trying to repress. "

"Right… So, um… We _are_ still going into the Midnight Channel, right?" Chie asked uncertainly.

"Of course we are." Yu stated "It was uncomfortable to watch but we can't let something like that stop us.

"Um… Well… I-I wasn't sure! Watching that really weirded me out…"

There was silence for a moment.

"Chie?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want a copy?"

"What? NO!" Chie yelled flustered at Yu's question.

Yu chuckled as she hung up on him and causing him to put his phone away.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/18 TV World Entrance]

The next day the team all gathered at Junes and entered into the TV World in hopes of finding kanji quickly.

"Amazing…" Yukiko gasped looking at the environment around her "We actually inside the Television."

"Oh, yeah this is the sort of the first time you been here." Chie realised "At least of your own free will."

"What?...are you really saying that you really have no idea where Kanji Tatsumi is?" Yosuke asked Teddie who was grumbling and holding his head nervously

"No" Teddie answered "I can smell that somebody new is here… but for the like of me I can't figure out where!"

"Why not?" Yosuke pressed.

"It must be because I have so much on my mind." Teddie replied "Like who am I? Where do I come from? These questions are tearing me up inside."

"Weird since your insides are filled with nothing but air." Yosuke commented.

"So what now? If Teddie can't find him then we're totally screwed." Chie sighed.

"Well I don't know what else to do. Maybe we should just call it quits this time?" Yosuke suggested.

"Quiting is not an option!" Chie yelled at Yosuke angrily.

"Wait I know, maybe I could find him if you gave me a hint." Teddie suggested perking up. Do you guys have any possession that might have his scent on it? I could sniff him out with something like that."

"Let's go look around town and see if we can find something like that." Yu said after a few moments. "It should be too hard to find something."

"But what if we can't?" Yukiko asked.

"Then Yosuke will just have to sneak into Kanji's bedroom and steal some underwear or something."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Sounds good to me."

"Hey wait why me?!" Yosuke demanded as they departed the TV World.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/18 Tatsumi Textiles]

The team headed straight for Tatsumi textiles to ask Kanji's mother about him. Hoping to gain some sort of clue about Kanji to help Teddie track him down.

"I'm sorry." Mrs. Tatsumi frowned. "But he hasn't been back since yesterday. I told the police about it, I've been concerned since it's been so dangerous lately."

"I understand why you're worried." Yukiko said, giving a polite bow.

"Thank you." The old lady looked at the floor worry etched on her face. "It's normal for to leave without saying a word, but he's always come home before."

Chie tapped her chin in thought. "That's surprising. I'd think he'd be out fighting until dawn."

"Chie!" Yukiko scolded Chie.

"It's alright. I'll be admit that he's a little rough around the edges at times. A little while ago, he got in a fight with some biker kids."

"Yeah I heard about that." Yosuke stated "He and some masked guy called 'Space Samurai Y' or something took on an entire biker gang and destroyed 'em."

"It's partly my fault you see, I hadn't slept for days The noise was keeping me up at night… so he heard he got angry and fought them." Mrs Tatsumi explained sadly "To be honest, I was relieved when that Samurai fellow appeared to help him. I was worried that he might get hurt, but knowing that man was there to watch his back brought me some relief.

"Now that's one aggressively devoted son." Yosuke commented.

' _I wonder what he wants._ ' Cu Chulainn said causing Yu to turn around and see a little boy standing outside the shop looking nervously at it.

"Excuse me?" the boy spoke up as Yu went out to him.

"What do you need?" Yu asked.

"Is that big guy here today?" The boy asked clearly wishing to speak with Kanji.

"You mean the guy who lives in this place?" Yu asked wishing to be sure that he was indeed talking about Kanji.

"He helped me with this." He held up a small pink bunny charm attached to a cell phone strap.

"Wait a sec…." Yu suddenly remembered it as the same one that Kanji had dropped at school.

"I was borrowing Sana's phone strap with a pink bunny on it. But then the little bunny fell off and I couldn't find it anywhere. So then…"

" _Shut up! Crying isn't gonna bring back what you lost kid… Argh." Kanji got frustrated and crouched to speak to the boy. "What's it look like?"_

_"Wh-What?" the boy had stopped crying and looked at Kanji._

" _I can't make an exact copy but I can make something that looks pretty close."_

" _Really?" The boy's eyes lit up with hope._

_"I can, now when you give to her I want you ask her to forgive you and say that your sorry. I'll go with you to back you up."_

"He even made me one too so I could match with Sana's bunny."

"Are you saying that Kanji Tatsumi made a cute little bunny charm for you from scratch?" Yosuke asked stepping forward.

The boy nodded.

"May I take a look at it?" Yukiko asked. The boy nodded and gave the charm to her She held it up and studied it. "Amazing you'd have no idea this was handmade."

"It-It's super cute…" Chie stated. "I don't know process the idea of Kanji making this thing."

"Yeah. It totally destroyed the image I have of him." Yosuke muttered.

"Everyone's got their thing." Yu said to Yosuke who sweat dropped.

"Hey can we borrow this for a bit?" Yukiko asked requested.

"Only of you promise that you won't lose it."

"We promise."

The team began headed away to Junes unaware that a detective with a penchant for slacking was watching them.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[05/18 Junes entrance, Junes, Inaba]

"If Kanji made this then his scent should be on it." Yu stated holding the bunny charm in his hand as he and the others walking into Junes.

"Hey." Chie tapped Yosuke on the shoulder. "Did we see that kid yesterday? The one that was talking to Kanji?"

Just a she said the boy in blue who had been talking to Kanji stood by the Junes elevators. He turned around and looked at the group curiously. "So our paths cross again. Just so you know, my name is Naoto."

"Yeah. What a coincidence." Yosuke said.

"Did you hear?" the boy asked "It seems Kanji Tatsumi is hiding out somewhere."

"By the way what is it you two were talking about before?" Yosuke asked causing the rest fo the team to sweatdrop from his apparent nosiness.

"Why do you need to know?" the boy asked with a curious look on his face.

"Just curious is all."

"Fair enough. When we met up all I did was say hi and asked him what he'd been up to lately."

"Really, it was just small talk?" Chie questioned.

"Yup pretty much." The boy confirmed "He seemed to be acting pretty strange and not quite like himself."

"He was?" Yu asked.

"Yeah so I called him out on it. Then it got awkward and the colour drained from his face."

"That is weird, he doesn't seem like the type to care what people think about him."

"You can't judge a book by its cover." Naoto sighed. "It's possible that Kanji is suffering from some issues that we don't know about."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After leaving Naoto the team finally made it back to the TV World.

"I wonder what issues Kanji has." Yukiko pondered while Teddie sniffed the phone strap.

"Man that bear acts like some sort of freaky talking dog." Yosuke commented.

"Got it!" Everyone jumped at Teddie's outburst. "I've got the scent down!" He began to sniff the air rapidly. "This way, everyone!"

Teddie led them to a bathhouse with steam pouring out of it.

**BATH-HOUSE**

**MEN ONLY**

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Yosuke asked stepped back.

"Abso-lutely!" Teddie confirmed

Jazz music emanated from the inside. It certainly wasn't a regular bath-house.

"Um… I don't think that's safe for men to enter." Yosuke gulped "I could see things I can't unsee."

"Well, you're just gonna have to suck it up." Chie said insistantly.

Diarmuid looked between the entrance and his master.

'This strange place gives me shivers, but I can enter this place with no problem and crush any foe within.' Diarmuid thought silently 'However if it is my masters wish not to enter then I must respect that…. however, leaving someone to die leaves bitter taste in my mouth.'

" _We cannot back out now._ " Gawain stated appearing next to Yu. " _So let's –HEY WHAT ARE DOING UNHAND ME DOG!_ " Gawain began yelled as the Hound of Ulster suddenly grabbed the knight and held him in a full nelson.

" _Sorry, but you'll thank me for this later_." Cu Chulainn said as he began dragging Gawain.

" _This is childish, I will not..._ " Gawain was cut off and Cu Chulainn vanished along with him, dragging them both somewhere deep within Yu's soul.

"…What was that?" Chie asked after having watched the spectacle.

"Did they chicken out?" Yukiko asked sweat dropping at the sight.

"T _here is nothing to fear._ " Li Shuwen sighed. " _You cannot let petty things like this distract us from our goal."_

" _Cowardly crewmates already._ " Francis Drake sighed taking a swig from a bottle of rum.

Yu stayed silent for a moment as Semiramis, Atalanta and Medusa appeared in spirit form at his sides.

" _Men_." Atalanta shook her head.

" _We'll do it then._ " Semiramis sighed.

"Look I'm really not comfortable going in there." Yosuke griped. "And neither is Narukami."

Yu said nothing, he was still working up the courage to enter before Medusa whispered something in his ear.

"Include: Atalanta." Atalanta's bow materialised in his hand and Yu began walking inside. "Caution to the wind people let's go!"

Yu vanished into the entrance of the bathhouse, it took a few seconds for the others to all include and follow.

"Did anyone catch what she said to him?" Chie asked.

" _I didn't catch all of it but I believe she said something along the lines of 'reincarnated as a mouse'._ " Li Shuwen answered.

"Why would being reincarnated as a mouse scare him?" Yukiko wondered. "Is he afraid of mice?"

"I doubt it." Yosuke said trailing behind the girls. "it's probably something we're not privy too."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

As they made their way inside the bathhouse with Yu taking the lead, his bow at the ready Yosuke was still complaining.

"It's hot this sucks. I can't believe that we're doing this!" Yosuke voiced his complaints to Yu "Hey I know, we should split up, Chie and Yukiko go ahead and charge in with full force, then we can go back outside and guard the entrance!"

"Denied" Yu answered quickly.

"What why?" Yosuke asked with a whiney tone "Come this place has to creep you out too right?"

"Yes it does, but I will not let that stop me and cause me to be reincarnated into a mouse, just because you can't man up." Yu replied sternly.

"Are you afraid of mice Narukami?" Yukiko asked as Francis Drake appeared in Spirit Form and looked at him with interest in the answer.

"Of course not." He replied firmly before reducing his voice to a fearful mumble "I'm afraid of what happens to them."

Medusa appeared walking alongside him in Spirit Form causing him to walk faster. The team all looked and saw the tiny smirk on her face as she looked after the boy who summoned her.

"I think Narukami might have issues about this mouse thing." Yosuke commented.

"Let's not get involved." Chie suggested as Francis Drake began snickering.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After entering a large room on the first floor of the bathhouse. They spotted Kanji's Shadow, which was flexing while still wearing only that loincloth.

**"OOOHHH-LA-LA! MY! MY! Thank you for NOTICING ME!"**

Unfortunately, that just made Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko uncomfortable. Yu however had other things on his mind and was able to ignore the spectacle.

**"I am KANJI!"** Then the Shadow sexily winked.

Yosuke included Diarmuid and pointed his spear at the shadow while Yu prepared to shoot it with arrows.

"All right, all right! Just hold up a sec!" Chie sacried trying to stop the two boys from acting rashly.

"Screw that! I say we just get this over with, I'm not sure I can take another second in this freaky place."

**"Well, well, well! We're airing LIVE from the Tropical Paradise Suspicious. All this steam is making my blood start to PUMP!"**

"Chie! Not you, too!" Chie immediately included Li Shuwen and took a stance, leaving Yukiko and Teddie to try and hold the three back.

"I'm sorry but this guy bugs!" Chie replied.

"I think I can get him with a headshot." Yu stated preparing his arrow and taking aim.

**"All right, SWEETIES! Since everyone is so HOT and BOTHERED, let's move on to our next segment!"**

Then a neon sign came down and it read:

_**No girls allowed!** _

_**Take the plunge?!** _

_**It's the STEAMY Paradise of LOVE!** _

"This could get a little awkward…in more ways than one!" Yu said.

"Oh man, when we tried to rescue Yukiko it was this bad too," Chie said.

"No it wasn't! It wasn't ANYTHING like this!" Yukiko said. Then she retreated into her own small world of depression. "I swear it wasn't like this, I'm not the type of girl to do this, I couldn't really think of this, could I?"

_**"I really like to get my GROOOOOVE on…But I must continue my search for the BUMP and GRIIIINDDDDD!"**_ Shadow Kanji had thrust his hips again with those final words, and left running deeper into the bath house. **"Follow me if you DAAAARRRRREEEE!"**

"Hey wait!" Yosuke said before there were some shadows, that looked like very fat police officers flying towards them, their stomachs were carved out as if they were part-donut with a key inside the gaps

"This is what it was like with my Shadow self...?" Yukiko asked, not to anyone in particular. "That…That really…TICKS ME OFF!" She screamed in anger including Francis Drake acquiring her pistols and immediately opened fire taking out one of the shadows leaving two.

Chie was quick to follow suit attacking the fuzz shadow with a flying kick. Unfortunately, it was surprisingly nimble for something of its size and dodged at the last second.

"I'm not done yet!" Chie cried as she kicked off the opposite wall that she'd landed on and jumped high above the shadow aiming a flying kick at the back of its head. "I've got ya this time." The meat loving girl was confident of her aim, however the shadow was far from stupid and moved aside again. "Ah crap!" Chie cried when she saw where she was going to crash and prepared to right herself.

Yosuke was holding back, preparing to include and fight…. he was just working up his courage. For now, he was content with watching Yukiko and Yu try to take out the other remaining shadow.

Yukiko was rapidly trying to shoot it but the shadow kept ducking and weaving the air as well as firing shots back, several of which hit near Yosuke's feet forcing him to dance to avoid getting shot in the foot unfortunately a single misstep sent him falling backwards.

As he was trying to regain his balance he felt an unimaginable pain as Chie with the force of her kick sunk her foot into his crotch, she corrected herself by planting her other foot firmly near the other and used to momentum and Yosuke's crown jewels as a springboard to leap at the shadow.

"AAAAAHHHHH WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Yosuke cried as he went down holding his crotch painfully.

"Sorry!" Chie called as she destroyed the shadow with an angry punch while sounding anything but sorry.

"Yukiko drive it to the left." Yu commanded preparing his arrow.

"On it." Yukiko replied and began rapidly firing at the shadows right side, predictably it veered left and received an arrow in its forehead, destroying it.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Where the hell am I?" Kanji asked looking around at his surroundings.

He heard voices murmuring something.

"If someone's there come out already!"

" _Tatsumi Kanji's nothing but a knuckle-dragging delinquent bum._ " A disembodied voice said.

"What was THAT?!" Kanji said, raising his fist to the roof.

" _He takes out a biker gang, becomes their boss with some masked guy as his right hand man, and now he thinks he's king of the mountain?_ " A second voice asked.

"You don't know a freakin' thing! I didn't become their boss and that masked guy isn't my right hand man. That's CRAP!"

" _Aren't you the one who steals the other kids' pocket money?_ " A third voice asked.

"NO, I don't steal things. And don't just assume it's me!" Kanji yelled.

" _We all know Kanji did it. He's just that kind of guy._ "

"Shut the hell up, and don't go around spreading lies. Now come out so I can kill your ASS!"

**"And that's why you put on this scary delinquent act. 'Come out so I can kill your ass.' Such a façade."** A voice laughed derisively

"Who the hell's talking to me now?" Kanji asked a little calmer, but no less angry.

Kanji heard the sound of wet bare feet padding slowly across the floor.

**"Kanji, the THREATENING thug. So TOUGH and MANLY! That's how you want people to see you, isn't it?"**

Kanji could make out a figure heading towards him through the steam.

**"But that's not who you ARRRREEEEE!"** The voice said getting closer.

Kanji was stunned to see a himself emerge from the steam, wearing only a towel and with golden eyes.

"You're ME?!"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Kanji's right here! I know it!" Teddie jumped up and down. "He's right behind this bear-ry door!"

"Alright, then…" Yu looked at the other Investigation Team members. They weren't so enthusiastic. "Let's go, team!"

No response.

"Right?"

_**"Welcome to Tropical Paradise,"**_ The sign on the door said.

Unfortunately, Yu, Yosuke, and Chie were sweatdropping, and obviously didn't want to be welcomed.

As it was, though… the Shadows had not been that difficult on the lower floors.

"He's in here, isn't he?" Yu said with discomfort.

"Yeah, he's gotta be." Yosuke said.

"Okay, let's go in there and take this guy!" Chie said.

"Yeah! But, Keep your cool!" Yukiko said.

"You…may want to take your own advice!" Yosuke replied.

"Look, guys, no matter what happens in there we gotta stay focused on the mission! First, we gotta rescue Kanji, then once we've rescued him, then we gotta save him!" Chie said with determination.

"Snrk! Both of those objectives were the same thing, Chie!"

"Ummm, that was intentional…" Chie replied said blandly.

"Are you sure?" Yukiko asked.

"Yeah! Obviously!" Yosuke said. "You know Yukiko, I don't get you sometimes."

Teddie got back up and then everyone was facing the door. About to make the move to open the door.

Any moment now they'd open that door and go inside…

"Umm…why aren't you guys opening the door?" Teddie asked after a few seconds went past of no one doing anything

"Well, you see… we're just…" Chie trailed off.

"Do we really have to?" Yosuke whined. "I mean sometimes you can see things and they can be seared into your brain forever and ever and ever…"

"He does have a point," Yukiko said. "What do you think, Narukami?"

Before Yu could answer however Medusa appeared again leaning against wall looking at Yu.

"Mouse." Was the only word she spoke and the only one she needed too.

Yu went rigid for a moment and then suddenly raised his foot with all his might kicked the doors with such force that they flew off their hinges and fell inwards to the ground.

However when the team walked, they saw Kanji on top of his shadow threateningly.

"I SAID, CUT IT OUT!"

**"Oh, wow! You're so GENTLE! It's so SUBLIME! I LOVE IT!"** the two paused when they heard the door clatter to the ground.

"This is REALLY awkward," Yu, Yukiko, Yosuke, and Chie said.

"Huh? What are you guys doing here?" Kanji asked.

""Well, we came here…" Yosuke started.

"To save you…" Yu finished.

"Well, you sure as hell don't sound all that motivated!" Kanji yelled angrily.

"Oopsy-daisy!" The Shadow said pushing Kanji off of him, standing up and flexing its muscles, **"I won't let you INTERFERE!"** It said.

Then he did a forward flex and several coloured rose petals exploded outward and a liquid began flowing out from the baths.

"What the heck is this? Is this supposed to slow us down... uuh-uhhh?" Chie started to slip Yukiko grabbed Chie by her left hand trying to keep her steady "CHIE!" unfortunately Yukiko was taken down with Chie as fell into the slippery substances.

"Are you OK?" Yu asked.

"Why are you two crawling on the floor?"

"This stuff is slimy!" Chie said. Both girls were trying to get up.

"Narukami! You wouldn't happen to have a video camera, would you?" Yosuke said excitedly.

" No I don't." Yu said clenching his fist with a regretful tone.

"That isn't funn-yike!" Chie started to say before slipping again.

"You bastard!" Kanji said to his Shadow.

**"Honey, why don't you just drop the charade?"**

"Huh?"

**"Isn't it about time you tell people how you really feel I'm everything that you wish you could be."**

"YOU LIAR!" Kanji yelled.

"Don't listen to him! Go Diarmui-yuhhhh!" Yosuke said before he started to slip.

"YOSUKE!" Yu said, grabbing Yosuke before they both hit the ground.

"I'll help you, Sensei! Leave it to meeeeeeeeeee!" Teddie said before he slipped and was pushed back to the door.

**"I really hate girls!"** Shadow Kanji said. " **They look at me and say, 'You like to sew?' or if I paint a pretty picture, they laugh at it and say wow that's really weird for a guy!"**

"You prick! If you don't shut your mouth…!" Kanji was kneeling down, attempting to stand up but couldn't find the strength.

" **You should be strong! You should be tough! You should be manly! What does that even mean?! Girls are so scary!"**

"GIRLS. Aren't. Scary!" Kanji said gritting his teeth.

**"Guys are much better! They never say those awful things! That's why I LIKE MEN!"**

"That's not TRUE!"

**"Oh, but it is…see, you're me and I am so you!"**

"Like hell you are!" Kanji growled.

"No, Kanji!" Yu said. "Don't say it!"

"There's no freakin' way, you're a part of ME!"

**"I'm sorry, but I am YOU!"**

Then Flower petals had blown around the room.

Kanji's Shadow had changed. He was now embedded in a bed of cacti like spines attached to a large statuesque black body gripping a large stone axe like sword.

There were also two large Shadows which had half chalk-white faces and half black skinned faces.

**"I am a Shadow…of your TRUE Inner Self."**

"I have heard enough of this BULLSHIT you're slinging!"

**"Ha-Ha-Ha…Don't INTEREFERE!"** Kanji's Shadow used the axe to slash wildly at Kanji, aiming for the body, luckily the attack only nicked Kanji with the edge but even that was enough to hurt the boy and send him to the ground.

"Are you Ok?!" Chie asked.

"Hang in there, Man!" Yosuke said.

**"I just wanna be honest with myself! And I'll get rid of anyone who tries to stop ME!"** The Shadow said.

"I can't believe this is the way Kanji-kun feels…" Yukiko commented.

"It's not! It's just that his emotions have gone haywire!" Yosuke stated.

"Get him!" Yu said.

All four of them called their Personas, with Yu calling Nursery Rhyme, a Caster of the Priestess Arcana who took the form a little girl wearing a black and purple Victorian era dress with a mass of frills and a looped skirt. She looked like a child's doll come to life due to her porcelain-white skin.

"Bring it!" One of the two side Shadows said as Diarmuid, Li Shuwen and Francis Drake rushed them head on.

**""Hey, Now…Come on, Baby!"** The Tough Guy Shadow commented as Li Shuwen delivered a kick to its backside which barely had any affect.

"What the hell is THAT?!" Chie cried.

Francis Drake attacked with her pistols on the other big Shadow…

**"OHHH! That feels GOOD!"**

"OH NO!" Yukiko cried at the sight.

"This seems to get weirder!" Yu said.

"Hey Teddie! What the heck's going on?! We've got some major creeper's here!"

"I'm willing to bet that they're a part of Kanji's Shadow…" Teddie stated before Diarmuid was caught by Tough Guy.

**"Nice…You're a stud!"** Tough Guy said as Diarmuid struggled ot break his grip.

Suddenly Nice Guy dropped in behind the group.

**"Heh-eh-eh-eh, you look YUMMY!"** Nice Guy said as he squeezed Yu's butt. **"You too!"** He said as he did the same to Yosuke.

"I'm out…" Yosuke said, falling to the ground disheartened.

"That monster's toxic. He totally broke Yosuke's spirit in half!" Teddie said.

"I will not be reincarnated INTO A MOUSE!" Yu yelled abruptly as Nursery Rhyme suddenly summoned a huge red human looked beast with wing like appendages on its back and blue lines covering its skin except for the face which had soul-less yellow-white eyes.

It abruptly grabbed Nice Guy's wrist and tossed him into Tough Guy breaking his grip on Diarmuid. The giant creature promptly charged and began throwing punches at the two shadows trying to hold them at bay.

"You know she can't actually reincarnate you into a mouse right?" Nursery Rhyme asked with an innocent and child-like as she raised an eyebrow at Yu.

"Not taking the chance, Chie, Yukiko go now!" Yu ordered his reply causing Nursery Rhyme to giggle at him.

"Right." Both girls said in unison

Li Shuwen ran at Shadow Kanji dodging a wild swing of the axe-sword as he began punching at his body. However, his hail of fists did nothing to the giant, almost as if it were invincible but this did not deter the martial artist from trying.

"Alright, ready, aim…." Shadow Kanji looked up to see Drake materialise pair cannons out square shaped gaps in the air. "FIRE CULVERIN CANNONS!"

The ship cannons fired, peppering Shadow Kanji with cannon shots. Li Shuwen moved away just in time for them to impact the shadow. However, when the smoke cleared the shadow was clearly injured.

" **Ok, I knew girls were the worst**!" Shadow Kanji commented angrily swiping at Shuwen who moved out of range.

"How come Drake can hurt him but Li Shuwen can't?!" Chie cried annoyed by the unfairness of the situation.

"Again!" Yukiko ordered.

"Aye aye." Drake bombarded the shadow with another volley however this time the shadow was unaffected. "What the? Alright again!" The pirate fired more cannonballs at the shadow but it was still unaffected.

" **Sorry but I won't fall for the same trick twi-YEEEOOOWWW!"** Shadow Kanji screamed in pain as the master of the demon fist dug his fingers into the shadows chest and made a large gash in it wounding the shadow.

"You let your guard down abomination!" The Master of the Demon Fist yelled with a smirk.

**"You are annoying!"** Shadow Kanji yelled managing to catch Li Shuwen with the sword in mid-air, sending him crashing into Francis Drake.

Watching the scene Yu had a theory.

"Change Medea!" Yu called out changing Nursery Rhyme for the Princess of Colchis.

As the little girl and Jabberwocky vanished a woman wearing a hooded bluish-purple robe took her place.

"Chie go help out Yosuke, I'll help Yukiko."

"Ok, whatever you say. Let's go." Chie turned her Persona's assault to aiding Diarmuid with Tough Guy and Nice Guy who took the opportunity to beat down on him until Li Shuwen was able aid him and even the odds again.

"Ok Yukiko I have an idea, but I need you to attack first." Yu told the Amagi girl "Keep the attack up for as long as you can, I think I know how his weakness but you have to keep attacking no matter what until we're ready."

"Got it." Yukiko nodded "Go!"

The pirate mercenary nodded and began bombarding Shadow Kanji with cannon shots, as predicted they did no damage at all.

"How ridiculous." Medea commented surveying at the battle going on around her "How does such a bizarre situation becomes a fight for our lives."

"Will you help us?" Yu asked the Persona who gave him a strange look while Shadow Kanji attempting to attack again however he was stopped by Yukiko having her Persona bombard him with cannon shots to the face making him reflexively cover it with his arms.

"I can help you." Medea stated "But summoning me, you surely know my story and what I did, knowing this why would you trust an infamous betrayer like myself? How do you know I won't simply stab you in the back and leave?"

"I don't." Yu answered bluntly "I read your story, I know what happened to you."

"And?"

"And I don't see a woman who vilely betrayed her family and country. I see a victim who was taken advantage of for her skills and abandoned when she was no longer useful." Yu told her "I can't turn back time to right the wrong that was done you, and I know this Era isn't as impressive as the one you're from, but we do have something going for us that you might like. Here in this time the Gods cannot touch you, they and their Age is where it belongs….in the dustbin of history!"

As he finished his proclamation Medea noticed for just a moment Yu's eyes flashed crimson, only briefly before returning to normal.

Taken aback by the strange boy and his willingness to have faith in her, Medea felt a strange feeling bloom inside her, it wasn't love nor affection….no it was happiness.

"Αερο" she chanted waving her hand in the direction of Shadow Kanji, a part of his chest suddenly exploded, looking like it had been minced almost as if it were sent through an enormous fan, as this happened Drake stopped her bombardment.

"I see, so that's his trick eh?" the pirate said observing the shadow.

"So you wanted me to attack in order to confirm his ability." Medea observed analysing the situation. "By having her continuously bombard him with one type of attack which he became immune too he wouldn't be able to defend against a different type of attack when used at the same time."

"Yeah, I figured that magic was the best way to go if I wanted to hurt him." Yu replied. "I noticed the weakness when Yukiko hit him while Li Shuwen was attacking. The punches did nothing but the cannonballs hurt him."

"A decent observation." Medea said "I did like muscle-bound idiots maybe it won't so bad working with you after all…. we'll see I guess."

"Thank you for your trust."

"I don't trust you quite yet." Medea corrected him. "But I am willing to give you chance."

"That's all I ask."

" **You are all so annoying!"** The shadow yelled with annoyance as it began marching forward before spotting Kanji and heading for him **"And you are an EYESORE!"**

"It's going for Kanji!" Yukiko yelled "Stop him Drake!"

"Roger that lassie!" Drake gave a salute to the Amagi girl and began bombarding the shadow with cannon shots again.

"OK, do you have something that can finish him?" Yu asked the Caster.

"We'll see." Caster levitated and around her appeared several magic circles. "Fire!" The circles unleashed a rain of light directly at the shadow bombarding it relentlessly, it was having an effect if the screams of pain coming out the cloud of dust kicked up by the assault were anything to go by.

"Did we do it?" Yukiko asked as Medea and Drake ceased their respective assaults.

" **That certainly hurt a lot.** " Shadow Kanji's voice stated gasping for breath as it stepped out of the cloud " **But I'm not done yet.** "

"Oh come on, what does it take to kill this thing?!" Yukiko cried with frustration upon seeing Shadow Kanji trudge out with gaping wounds in his giant body, he was definitely highly damaged and was slower but it still hadn't stopped him.

" **Come here you.** " Nice Guy said as the master of Demon Fist ducked under his grasp.

"No thank you, but here have this as a consolation prize!" Li Shuwen promptly drove his fingers into Nice Guy's right Eye and with a quick motion destroyed it, blinding the shadow.

" **AAAAGHHH! Alright that's it eat this!** " Nice guy threw a punch but the Martial Arts master easily dodged it, instead it hit Tough Guy in the stomach who doubled over.

" **What are you hitting me for moron?!** " Tough Guy demanded punching his counterpart in the face.

" **You wanna go?** "

" **Have some of this.** "

The two shadows forgot their opponents and began fighting each other, a foolish mistake as Diarmuid and Li Shuwen nodded at each other and rushed to finish the battle.

"Never take your eyes off your opponent monster!" Diarmuid growled as he drove Gae Dearge through Tough Guy's skull through the back of his head.

"Indeed, it is a fatal mistake!" Shuwen agreed as he drove his hand into Nice Guy's chest and crushed his heart.

"Man they're finally gone." Yosuke sighed as the two shadows vanished.

"Yeah I'm glad that's over." Chie agreed equally out of breath. "Should we help Yukiko and Narukami now?"

"I would but…." Yosuek sank to his knees and Diarmuid suddenly vanished "I'm spent I don't think I have any more power left."

"Yeah me either." Chie agreed as Li Shuwen also vanished.

Shadow Kanji continued his advance stopping short of Yu who was standing in front of Kanji himself. It raised the axe-sword and brought it down, only for it bounce of a shield erected by Medea, even then she flinched at the strike.

**"Darlings…. It's our last time to GET. OUR. GROOVE. ON!"** The shadow struck the barrier again and again and again its wild strikes starting to pick up the pace, each strike mad Medea flinch more and more noticeably.

"I hope you have a plan." Medea gritted out barely managing to hang on as the Prana available to her began to run out.

Yu felt the drain and fell to his knees, the bunny charm he had used to track Kanji down earlier falling out of his pocket.

"Wait, isn't that…?" Kanji spotted the familiar charm.

"You made it right?" Yu said.

"So! You gotta problem with it? I can make it and still be tough…" Kanji said looking up at Yu.

"I know… I think it's cute."

"Huh?" Kanji looked surprised.

"I said it's cute," Yu said with a smile.

"CUTE?" Kanji Felt happy.

**"You think it's cute? HELLO! it's super-duper cute!"** Shadow Kanji bellowed as his strikes got stronger and faster, Medea was barely hanging on. " **I LOVE EVERYTHING CUTE!"**

Kanji picked up the charm, closing his fist around it. And then started walking towards his Shadow. Yu moved slightly out of the way to allow Kanji to pass.

**"You're so persistent!"** The Shadow stated pausing in its assault to look at Kanji, causing Medea to drop her barrier and sigh in relief.

"Yep, there's no denyin' it."

**"Come again?!"** the shadow said raising the Axe-sword to strike.

"I can't help it!" Kanji said picking up the charm and breaking into a run."I love stupid cute SHIT!"

He then punched his Shadow square in a large wound on its gut sending it onto the ground.

" **Just accept me!"** the shadow yelled as its large body disintegrated.

"I think he just beat his own Shadow!" Chie exclaimed panting in exhaustion.

Kanji looked at Yu, blushing. "Look, it made me happy when you called what I made cute.' You didn't make fun of me for it."

"He's back for more…This guy really is un-bear-able." Teddie yelled seeing that Shadow Kanji had returned to normal.

**"Someone…anyone…PLEASE JUST ACCEPT ME!"** The Shadow said running towards the team as if he needed a hug.

"I SAID… CUT THAT CRAP OUT!" Kanji yelled causing his shadow to stop.

"I hate that this guy's inside me," Kanji said in a low voice. "You have no freakin' idea how embarrassing it is."

"Kanji…"

"It's not about men or women. I'm just scared shitless about being made fun of! I'm nothin' but a big old coward who spends most his time pushing people away!" Kanji pressed on glaring at the shadow. "I already knew you existed…You're me and I'm you. That isn't some major revelation! Freakin' Moron!"

Kanji's Shadow chuckled and a summoning circle formed itself around him and from it appeared a large form not dissimilar from its monstrous form, except it was a complete body with a head and glowing red eyes staring down at them.

"That must be Kanji's Persona." Yukiko said dismissing Francis Drake.

"That's definitely one macho dude." Chie chuckled.

"Boy, in the Under the Arcana of the Emperor and in the Class of Berserker, I Hercules am now your Persona." The large being told him a rumbling voice before vanishing.

In his place floated a card with the image of a mad warrior wielding a huge sword. It the number four shining next to the word BERSEKER. The card turned into a blue light which settled within Kanji.

"Persona." Kanji mumbled the word before falling to his knees and staring at the charm in his hand.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[06/01 Samegawa Flood Plain, Inaba]

Nearly two weeks had passed since the battle with Kanji's shadow and his subsequent rescue. Yu was sitting under the pagoda waiting for Yosuke who had called him out here. It was currently overcast but with a chance of heavy rain so the flood plain was entirely deserted.

"Narukami!" Yu looked to see Yosuke dressed in a fancy white shirt, the kind one would wear for an important event, he ran up and standing under the Pagoda with Yu.

"So what did you call me out here for Yosuke?" Yu asked not eager to get wet when it could rain.

"I need something but first. Diarmuid." The persona appeared in spirit form dutifully in response to Yosuke's call.

"Yes my lord?"

"Look there's something I have to do, but I need you to not listen in and only come when I call you." Yosuke said "Can you do that? This is important it's something I have to do."

"As you order I will comply." With a respectful bow Diarmuid vanished going deep into Yosuke's soul. When he was sure his Persona was not listening Yosuke address Yu again. "Narukami can you call out Medea again? I need to ask her something. Please this is a big deal to me."

"Alright." Yu accepted his friend request and with no small amount of confusion called out the Princess of Colchis.

"What is it you want?" Medea asked as she was materialised into physical form. "I hope this isn't just a foolish waste of my time.

"No its not I swear." Yosuke said swallowing his nervousness "I wanted to ask you favour. I've read up on you and I know how powerful you are with magic….so can you remove Diarmuid's love spot?"

"What you are asking is not small favour." Medea told him "This is a large request; so say I was able to treat it how would you go about repaying me? Doing something for him…" she pointed at Yu "And doing something for me are not one and the same understand? I would expect your repayment when asked."

"I'll do whatever you want." Yosuke answered quickly and seriously "No matter what, no price is too much. I screwed up and you're only chance I have to make things right with him. So can you get rid of it?"

"No, I'm afraid not." Medea replied "If it were merely a spell or curse it would simple to break. But this is not the work of a Magus, it is the work of a spirit of some sort, and without the spirit itself removing the Love Spot is impossible even for one like me."

Yosuke looked down disheartened.

"However." The Hanamura boy looked at Medea hopefully "Because this is the work of Spirit and not a god." Medea spat the word out like it was a curse "I can create something like an amulet that could negate the Love Spot entirely so long as Diarmuid wears it, but If he removes it or if it is destroyed then the Love Spot's effects will return."

Yosuke looked thoughtful for a second before untucking his shirt and grabbing hold of the bottommost part of it. Before Yu could what he was doing Yosuke tore a strip of cloth out of the shirt. When it was made he removed the part containing the button and button hole leaving only a makeshift bandana.

"Here will this work?" Yosuke asked holding out the strip of cloth to the Magus.

"Yes that will do nicely." She said taking it from Yosuke and mumbling some words that Yu could not hear. The green cloth gave off a soft blue glow before it settled down. "Done, now remember I will expect payment for this."

"I understand and I'll do whatever you ask, thank you." Yosuke bowed to Medea as she dematerialised and returned to Yu's soul. "Diarmuid."

The Knight of Fianna dutifully answered the call in physical form this time. However, Yu could definitely see the sweat dripping down Yosuke's brow. He was having difficulty materialising Diarmuid and keeping him here outside of the TV World. Unlike himself and Chie who he knew had been trying to keep her Persona/ Sensei physical as part of her martial arts training regimen, Yosuke had not practicing materialisation, he hadn't even been speaking to Diarmuid since they rescued Yukiko so he was having a much harder time of it, and yet he was determined to do it even ignoring the concern plainly written on Diarmuid's face. "You called my lord?"

"Look, I'm not so good with words but" Yosuke paused before continuing "After seeing what happened to you in that dream, because of that Love Spot I realised just how much of an insensitive jackass I was towards you. It was wrong of me to be jealous of something that ruined your life like that so here I want you take this…." Yosuke held out the bandana to Diarmuid who looked confused.

"What is this?"

"This is a bandana it's like a symbol of courage." Yosuke explained "I got Medea to make it so that it could negate the power of the Love Spot as long as you wear it."

"….Truly?" Diarmuid was stunned this was almost too good to be true.

"Here." Yosuke quickly got behind Diarmuid and tied the bandana tightly around the Knight's forehead, it gave a soft glow as it took effect. "Ok time to test it out, if it doesn't work then we'll just book it. See that girl walking over there go say hi and see what happens."

Diarmuid looked towards a young woman walking past with an umbrella prepared for rain. At Yosuke's encouragement he walked up to the woman and took a deep breath.

"G-good day." Diarmuid greeted reluctantly, bracing for the inevitable reaction to his Love Spot.

"W-what do you want you weirdo?" The woman demanded nervously "Look I don't have time for cosplayers, I have to go." With that the woman walked right past Diarmuid even after looking upon his face.

"It worked!" Yosuke exclaimed running up to Diarmuid when the woman was gone.

Yu smiled as he watched the two celebrate Diarmuid's freedom from the Love Spot.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"I'm telling you, guys and girls would totally flip out if they knew you made this thing." Yosuke was holding a small stuffed bunny. "It's crazy!"

"Drop it!" Kanji yelled quickly snatching the bunny out of Yosuke's hand "I don't really care about that crap anymore!"

"That's good to hear." Yu said calmly acting as though nothing had happened at all.

"I owe you guys though." Kanji's voice softened up.

"You're being awfully polite to us." Chie commented looking at him from her usual spot by the school's air vents.

"Well you guys are the seniors here." Kanji replied before getting serious again "Look all, I really wanna know is who that jackass was that threw me in the TV in the first place!"as

"We don't know," Yukiko spoke up from her spot next to Chie. "But that's what we're trying to find out too."

"You're looking for this bastard?" Kanji asked "You guys mind if I tag along and help you with that? I owe this guy a major ass-kicking and then some."

"For real!? That's great! Our team could use some brawn!" Yosuke exclaimed excitedly.

"Sweet! What do you think Narukami?" Chie asked causing everyone to turn to their appointed leader.

"Yeah of course."

"Well kickass!" Kanji pumped his fists clearly ready to fight. "And if push comes to shove, I'm willing to lie my life down for you guys!"

Watching the scene, Yu felt Kanji's resolve and the new bond that had been forged. Deep within the felt another soul connect to him from Beyond, with the number IV representing Kanji.

" _It is good that he knows his place._ " The haughty voice had returned " _But laying his life down for his king is to be expected._ "

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[Wizard Marshal Zelretchs office, Clock Tower, London]

"Pretty good show would you say?" the Wizard Marshal asked Waver who had watched the affair with him.

"I'm glad that Hanamura and Diarmuid have resolved their issue's but I am concerned."

"About what exactly?"

"The Heroic Spirit you chose for the one called 'Teddie'" Waver said "Are you sure it was wise to choose that one for endeavour? What if it ends up causing a disaster? If Izanami wins this Grail War then we're done for, there will be no second chances!"

"Relax Waver you're underestimating the Wild Card and his friends." Zelretch replied nonchalantly. "Just have a little faith for once and get a haircut while you're at it you look like a little girl."

A vein began throbbing in the forehead of Waver's rapidly reddening face.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Outside the office both Rin Tohsaka and Luvia Edelfelt suddenly stopped their entrance into the office when heard a loud voice.

"THAT'S IT EAT THIS YOU OLD VAMPIRE!" the voice Lord El Melloi the second yelled.

"Turn that magecraft off before you hurt yourself princess." Came the Wizard Marshals mocking voice.

The whole section suddenly shook as a loud explosion rocked the door nearly off its hinges.

"Maybe we should come back later." Luvia suggested to her rival.

"Yeah, I'm sure we don't need to get involved in this." Rin agreed before dashing away from the increasingly loud noises coming out of the office of the Wizard Marshal.


	8. A Vow between Master and Student

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or Fate or anything in the nasuverse, any resemblance to any other Persona 4/Fate fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.
> 
> [-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

 

[06/13 Rooftop, Yasogami High, Inaba]

Yu, Yosuke, Chie and Yukiko were on the roof. The warm part of the year had begun and as such it was boiling hot, but not unbearably so.

"When it's boiling hot outside a big bowl of steaming noodles is the absolute best. " Chie cheered eating her noodles.

"It is nice and sultry…" Yukiko commented.

"Hey bro, this like totally rocks right?" Yosuke asked with a grin.

"Yeah… definitely." Yu agreed.

"Wait, what does?" Chie asked looking up from her conversation with Yukiko and shooting Yosuke a look.

"Summer clothes…!" Yosuke answered with a cheerful tone.

Yukiko sweat dropped while Chie looked annoyed.

"You've got a weird pervy look in your eyes." Chie stated.

"And that sounded kinda creepy," Yukiko said agreeing with Chie.

The girls were wearing their white summer "sailor" uniforms, each accentuating it with their own flourish. Yukiko wore a red light open jacket over. Meanwhile Chie had chosen to tie her track sweater around her waist. While Yu and Yosuke were wearing their uniform shirts.

"Hey come on he agreed with me, why am I always the one getting all the crap?" Yosuke demanded.

"Well, to change the subject…" Yukiko decided to steer the conversation in a different direction.

"Don't You DARE!" Yosuke yelled.

"When the rainy season hits, we should start checking the TV every night," Yukiko continued as if Yosuke hadn't spoken, causing the boy to sweatdrop and hang his head in resignation.

"Right for the Midnight Channel?" Yu stated nodding his head.

"They say we're gonna get tons of rain this year. Chie said, looking up at the sky.

"Well I hope the weather clears up a little bit for this weekend," Yosuke sighed.

"Why is that?" Yu asked.

"The school camping trip!" Yosuke informed him with a grin.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[06/16 Grocery Department, Junes, Inaba]

Three days later the gang minus Kanji had gone to Junes in order to do some shopping in preparation for the camping trip.

"Hey guys This is your first camping trip, isn't it?" Chie asked.

"Yeah and from what I've heard each team has to prepare their own meals." Yosuke explained with a smug smirk.

"So then what should we make?" Yu asked.

"I've been debating over Ramen or Curry…" Yukiko said, apparently she hadn't decided what she wanted to cook just yet

"Personally I'd go with curry." Yu suggested.

"Cool, then curry it is." Chie agreed apparently liking the idea.

"Ooh! Ooh! I wanna put in my two cents… Curry is a must for camping…" Yosuke said excitedly.

"Thank you for that, so helpful!" Chie growled, gritting her teeth.

They proceeded to head towards the produce department.

"Let's see… Carrots… Potatoes…" Yukiko listed off vegetables while looking over some of the produce.

"So what do you guys do on the camping trip…?" Yu asked with curiosity.

"In the afternoons we usually pick up trash." Chie replied.

"Bleh, seriously? No one ever told me that." Yosuke grumbled.

"Chill there's other fun stuff to do too… we get to sleep in tents and cook all the meals outside." Chie explained.

"The four of us make one complete team right?" Yosuke asked. "So does that mean we're all sharing a tent? Huh?"

"No guys and girls sleep separately!" Chie yelled

"Oh man, that blows" Yosuke groaned as Chie quickly killed his pervy line of thought.

"Hey now that I think about it, didn't we swim at the riverbank after we were done last time? " Yukiko asked noticing Yosuke straighten up and a smirk cover his face.

"Yeah, we did." Chie responded. "And it was way fun."

"This river can you swim in it?" Yu asked.

"Yeah…I don't see why not; people have done it in the past. " Chie stated.

"Uhh… I'm sorry, I just remembered something, I've gotta get going!" Yosuke said hiding his smirk as he turned to go.

"Wait, what about shopping?" Chie asked. But it was too late Yosuke was already running off, leaving the other three stare after him. "What just crawled up his butt?"

After Yosuke ran off Yu stayed with the girls to continue shopping for ingredient for the curry.

"What do you put in Curry again?" Chie asked causing Yu to get a bad feeling.

"Carrots, Onions, Potatoes… Mushrooms, Green Peppers, and… Radish's?" Yukiko said.

"Are radishes the same as Turnips?" Chie asked

"Hmm… Hey Chie do you use Potato starch for Curry?" Yukiko asked.

"Uh, of course you do," Chie said.

"Of course, otherwise the sauce wouldn't thicken." Yukiko stated. "Then we need potato starch and flour too."

"Th-There are different types of Flour, which one do we use?" Chie asked.

"Uh… the whole wheat sounds healthy, maybe that one?" Yukiko said. "Oh and we should get some of these Chili Peppers too, it isn't curry if it isn't spicy."

As they continued to talk about cooking this curry the bad feeling that Yu had from earlier began to grow.

"Ah… there's so much to get, let's just get everything that seems right. We should get some Kimchi and some Black Peppers too," Chie suggested.

"They have black and white kinds though, which one do we get?" Yukiko pointed out.

"Whoa! Way to go, Yukiko...The Amagi family sure knows their stuff!" Chie cheered "Let's get both, just in case."

"Oh yeah...We'll need some special ingredients, too, to spice things up." Yukiko stated.

"How about mint chocolate!? I love that stuff! I don't like coffee that much, though...Oh, I can drink mocha, so let's get that." Chie said excitedly.

"How about some seafood? That should make the sauce taste better." Yukiko suggested.

" _I have a bad feeling about this meal._ " Cu Chulainn commented.

" _So do I._ " Drake said taking a swig of her rum. " _I've watched her cook at home_ _and let's just say, the lass shouldn't go into the restaurant business anytime soon."_

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[06/17 Camping Trip Grounds, Inaba]

The next day the team all went to the camping ground and spent the whole of Friday morning picking up trash that had been left in the area. Eventually much to everyone's relief the afternoon rolled along, and much to Yosuke's excitement time to eat the meal Yukiko and Chie had cooked.

"Ugh, picking up all that trash was murder on my back." Yosuke complained as he ad Yu sat at a bench waiting for the girls to bring the curry they had cooked. "I can't believe someone threw away an entire bike. Dammit, litterers should have to deal with their own garbage." Yosuke let out a groan of frustration before perking up again. "Anyways, time for dinner! Man, I'm starvin'. Dude, the girls cooked just for us! Not that I expect much outta Chie, but Yukiko's got the full tradition of the Amagi Inn behind her food! You know it's gonna be out of this world!"

"You shouldn't eat it." Yu warned Yosuke having heard half of the ingredients that the girls used and knowing for a fact that nothing edible could be made with all of them.

"Ohh, no way. I'm not falling for that. You just want it all for yourself, huh? I can't wait to dig in!"

" _It's his funeral._ " Cu Chulainn sighed shaking his head while leaning against a pole in spirit form nearby.

' _Please go hunt a wild boar._ ' Yu begged the Lancer telepathically as he materialised him. ' _I can cook it and make a meal that won't give us food poisoning._ '

Thankfully there were very few people around and none of them saw Lancer materialise out of thin air and as such none of them paid attention when he ran into the forest at high speed.

Yu had spent more time than the others had at privately materialising his Persona's and trying to hold them here in the real world. It was taxing certainly but it got easier the more he did it. As such the strain of holding Lancer in the real world was not as taxing as it would have otherwise been.

"Oh man, here it comes." Yosuke whispered excitedly as Yukiko and Chie came up the table each holding a plate of curry.

"Uhhh, sorry for the wait. Um...We...put a lot of love into it..." Chie stammered as she tried to be confident in her creation.

"Whoa, really? That's kinda clichéd, but still awesome!" Luckily for Chie Yosuke seemed to not notice her lack of confidence. "Okay then, chow time!"

The moment Yosuke put a spoonful of curry in his mouth he immediately collapsed and began gagging.

"Yosuke what's wrong?" Yu asked even though he had a good idea of why Yosuke looked like he was dying and silently prayed for Lancer to be faster.

"mu…no…ea…" Yosuke gagged unable to form the words properly.

"Mosquitos?" Yu guessed hoping to drag the situation out as long as possibly before the girls tried to get him to eat it.

"Wa…."

"Worms?"

"Mosquitos and worms?" Yukiko repeatedly aloud.

"I didn't put any of that in the curry." Chie cried defensively.

"Here drink this." Yu put a glass of water up to Yosuke mouth and poured it in "Is the curry too spicy?" Yu wondered while silently begging Lancer to hurry.

"You were going to make the curry mild right Chie?" Yukiko asked her friend.

"Er…..yeah but if you guys don't trust me then you can taste it yourselves." Chie said with a nervous expression.

"Good idea, why don't you take a bite." Yukiko suggested to Yu who froze up for moment.

' _That poor fool_.' Drake sighed from nearby.

' _Indeed, to be forced to eat such a thing, truly he is to be pitied._ ' Li Shuwen agreed.

Diarmuid could only look over his master silently with a look of concern.

Yu gulped and realised that he was at the end of the line. His nervousness was not helped by his Persona's giving him their condolences and offering to pray to their deities for him. He held a spoonful of the 'curry' in front of his face and looked at the girl's hopeful expressions.

"Well here goes."

Before Yu could put the spoon in his mouth however he felt another drain on his prana as a flash of blue light came from beneath the table. A red blur came from beneath the table and snatched the spoon from his hand.

"BLEGH disgusting how can you two call this food?" The owner of the voice (and Yu's saviour) demanded, she was a girl who was wearing a military-styled red dress with a translucent portion in the front of the lower skirt.

"W-who are you?" Chie asked incredulously.

"Fool, I am Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus." Nero proclaimed introducing herself dramatically. "Perhaps almost as importantly, how dare you call this travesty food. Were you chefs of mine I would have crucified you both personally and set you on fire."

"You look kind of short to be an emperor." Chie commented.

"Ha! only a fool would judge a book by its cover." Nero laughed "Your 'food' looked like something my many dogs vomited up and did I not try it regardless? Yet it despite the fact that your friend here helps run an inn, it still tastes like something I would not attempt to poison my most hated enemies with."

Chie and Yukiko stood there stunned as Yosuke recovered from his serving. Nero put her index finger and thumb into her mouth and let out a whistle as though summoning a dog.

"Lancer, here boy!" Nero called out looking at the forest, suddenly Yu felt the burden on his Prana lessen.

All of a sudden a large and very dead boar fell out of the sky on to the table.

" _I AM NOT A DOG DAMN IT!_ " Lancer yelled angrily at Nero as he ran up now in spirit form.

The Emperor looked over the boar ignoring Lancer's yells before nodding approvingly.

"Good boy." She praised Lancer patting his head like a dog.

" _DID YOU EVEN HEAR ME?_ " Lancer yelled as Nero kept patting his head. " _Damn it, forget this, I'm outta here._ "

Cu Chullain promptly returned to his place inside Yu's soul far too angry to continue arguing with Nero.

"Now come Praetor." Nero called as she lifted the boar up and took it over to an empty yet solid table. "We must prepare this beast and for a proper feast." Yu silently relieved stood up and walked over to help. "You two!" Nero pointed a knife at Chie and Yukiko who stood up straight.

"Us?" Chie pointed to herself and Yukiko.

"Do you see any other terrible cooks?" Nero demanded "You two will watch and see how a proper meal is made. Praetor, take the jester to a healer and settle his stomach for the feast that is to come!"

As Yu carried Yosuke over to the medical tent he looked and saw a boy wearing one of the schools camping trip uniforms, he had wavy, slicked-back light brown hair, grey eyes, and a sharp nose.

"Excuse me do you have anything for him?" Yu asked the boy "He ate something bad."

"My stomach is in major revolt, you've gotta help me dude. "Yosuke pleaded before pausing in recognition of the boy.

He picked up a bottle and offered it to the Fool, but he held onto it as Yu tried to take it.

"Hold on…I'm Naoki Konishi."

Yu gasped as he realised just who this person was.

"And just so you know I hate you. AND YOSUKE." Naoki declared glaring darkly.

Then he let go of the bottle, Yu quickly left with Yosuke managed to find a secluded area.

"That kid, he's Saki little brother," Yosuke explained after having taken the medicine.

"Oh I get it now." Yu stated.

' _I suppose that would explain his dislike of you._ ' Diarmuid commented appearing in Spirit Form.

"We talked a couple of times when I was hanging out with Saki." Yosuke continued "I heard that since the murder he's basically withdrawn."

"I see." Yu sighed.

"Guys, hey guys!" The two looked up to see Kanji further down the path calling them. "Guys, Over here!"

They followed Kanji to a shady clearing where Nero was almost done cooking the boar. While Yosuke went over to sit down Yu decided to help Nero out.

"Ah Praetor, you are finished healing the jester I see." Nero smiled as continued cooking the boar along with some vegetables that Yukiko and Chie had not used. "I am almost done with our meal; it will be a meal even greater than those held on Olympus…..gah!" Nero clutched her head as a pain shot through it.

"Are you alright?" Yu asked his Persona with concern.

"It is nothing, merely a passing head pain." Nero said waving off his concern. "Now go and sit I shall serve up the portions."

Yu gave Nero a look of concern before he reluctantly joined the others, apparently the subject was about Naoki.

"Kanji, do you knew Naoki Konishi?" Yosuke asked Kanji.

"Yeah, he and I go way back." The delinquent answered as Nero suddenly gave out bowls with portions of Boar stew to everyone before giving Yu a wink as she dematerialised and returned to Yu's soul.

"Say, wasn't his sister…?" Chie trailed off.

"Naoki is Saki's little brother." Yukiko confirmed.

"Yeah, the two of use hung out a lot in elementary school." Kanji explained. "Lately, it seems like we've drifted apart."

"You have classes with him don't you?" Yosuke asked "Is it true his classmates are ignoring him?"

"Hmmm…don't know." Kanji answered taking a bite of the boar.

"Whattya mean you don't know?" Yosuke asked

"I don't know because we don't have any classes together." Kanji stated.

"You're no help at all," Yosuke groaned.

"I don't gotta take this crap from you guys" Kanji started to get up.

"He's just joking." Chie called after Kanji.

"There's still more food here." Yukiko said as Kanji left.

After a few minutes Kanji returned holding Naoki.

"What the hell, let me go!" Naoki yelled at Kanji as he set the boy down.

"If you wanna learn more about him then just ask him those questions yourself." Kanji pushing Naoko towards them

" So just what do you guys want with me?" Naoki demanded caught off guard.

"Are people in class?" Yu asked bluntly getting straight to the point.

The bluntness caused everyone save Kanji and Yu to freeze in surprise.

"Dude, a little subtlety..." Yosuke stressed.

"That's the first time anyone's had the nerve to ask me that straight to my face" Naoki said with surprise although it seemed more like a pleasant kind. "It's actually kind of a nice change."

Naoki smiled and looked at all of them.

"It's true." Naoki confessed "I do feel like I'm being left out, it's like nobody knows what to say so they stare at me from a distance. I'm tired of being coddled."

"So have you been skipping school because of this?" Yu asked.

"Yeah I have." Naoki answered cheering up a bit. "And not just because of that, I'm helping my family fend off the press all the time."

"I understand that." Yukiko said sympathetically. " I had to do the same thing at our inn."

"Lately our neighbours have been taking shifts and coming together to help out with the press. See they tell me to live my life because that's what my sister would want and then they just start crying. It's really depressing."

"Here." Yu held out a plate of the roasted boar that he had cooked. "It's all yours if you want. It's not professional cooking like Aiya's but it's the best I could do with a lack of quality ingredients."

Naoki took the plate and tried some of the pork. When it went into his mouth his expression instantly brightened into a wide smile.

"Wow, you made this? This is amazing." Naoki exclaimed

"Hey! Those are my seconds there!" Kanji yelled angrily as Chie and Yukiko held him back.

"Suck it up and deal Kanji." Chie chided him

"Be nice!" Yukiko insisted.

"You owe me for this punk!" Kanji yelled.

Behind some trees nearby the giant claws of the unnatural being moved as it stared with curiosity at the scene. It saw the kindness that grey haired boy showed the other boy even offering him food. The watcher couldn't help but feel a sense of longing, it wanted that kindness for itself. It didn't linger long before it darted away from sight.

Another shadow caught only the movement of the watcher but did not follow, it clutched a crucifix for a few moments before concealing it again and walking away.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After they finished eating and clearing up the group all walked back to the tent area along with Naoki who stopped.

"Hey guys I know I said I hate you when I don't even know you, I'm sorry about that." Naoki apologised bowing to Yu and Yosuke slightly. "I think that I actually had fun today, maybe we can all hang out again sometime."

"Sounds good." Yu nodded.

"Just say the word." Yosuke agreed.

"Cool thanks." Naoki smiled and walked away.

As he watched Naoki run off Yu felt that a new bond that had been forged. Deep within he felt another soul connect to him from Beyond, with the number XII representing Naoki.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Night had finally fallen and the boys had gone their tent to sleep for the night, Kanji had joined them after he got tired of the silence in the first year's tent. Currently Yu and Yosuke were facing the sides of the tent and Kanji was in between them, scowling upwards. Yu was attempting to sleep but Yosuke and Kanji were making that difficult.

"Hey, not that I care… but do you really swing that way?" Yosuke asked Kanji.

"Huh? What way?" Kanji asked.

"I mean, I'm not judging or anything. It's cool. But since we're sharing a tent and all I just…" Yosuke continued.

"Wha-? I have had about enough crap out of you guys for that! Let it go already!" Kanji protested getting annoyed.

Yu held his head, he could feel it pounding after the stress of holding two of his Persona's in the real world, when combined with his prana exhaustion he was finding it very difficult to keep his annoyance at not being able to just sleep in check.

"Then why are you so touchy about it?" Yosuke asked defensively "That's just more suspicious!"

"Then STOP Grillin' ME ABOUT IT!" Kanji said. "And besides, who'd want your ugly mug!"

Yu felt his annoyance at the two's bickering growing.

"Hey, you know what they say…all good friendships are based on honesty, right?" Yosuke said.

"C'mon! I like cute things so what!" Kanji growled. "I'm telling you that I have no problem being around girls now!"

"Can you prove it?" Yosuke asked causing

"FINE! IN THAT CASE" Kanji yelled standing up and getting angry. "I'M GONNA WALK OVER AND SLEEP IN THE GIRLS' TENT! THEY'VE GOT MORE BALLS THAN YO…"

Kanji suddenly trailed off as a he and Yosuke felt something grip the back of the heads, it was like steel and the third person in the tent was giving off a dangerous aura.

"Go. To. Sleep!" he growled and that was all they knew as their heads were banged together and they were sent forcefully into Morpheus's embrace.

Yu fell backwards onto his pillow and felt relief at the silence. As he fell to sleep he swore he heard what sounded like prayer.

Meanwhile in the girls tent when Chie finally did get some sleep (which was made difficult by Hanako) she was tossing and turning eat the images she saw.

_Another day had come and once again fools rushed to challenge her. Some out for glory, others for revenge._

_Chie saw in front of her several men armed with swords and spears, with fierce scowls on their faces._

" _Today you die Li Shuwen!" one of them yelled waving his weapon threateningly._

" _Just like all who have challenged me, for you fools a second strike will be unnecessary." Chie boasted unconcerned by the fact that they were armed._

" _Arrogant fool!" The first charged and his friends followed, they were fast but not fast enough._

_In the blink of an eye it was over, Chie was standing behind them and continued walking down the path as she heard their bodies drop to the ground._

" _Will I ever find a worthy challenge?" Chie mumbled to herself "These assassination contracts get so boring when none of those I kill are able to take more than a single blow."_

Chie Satonaka promptly woke up with a start gasping for breath. Ignoring Hanako's snoring she wondered what the hell she just saw.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[06/18 Camping Trip Grounds, Inaba]

The next morning the entire team had gathered at a clifftop near a waterfall in the river.

"Looks like we're the only ones here!" Yosuke loudly exclaimed as he looked over the sight before him.

"What's wrong?" Yosuke looked questioningly at Kanji. "Got a stomach ache?"

"No, it's just…I don't remember anything after getting pissed off. Whenever I try my head hurts."

"Yeah mine too, by the way, I would like to apologize for what I said last night." Yosuke coughed into his hand. " ANYWAYS…let's go swimming!"

"Are you seriously taking a swim?" Kanji frowned. "I'll pass…I'm still all stiff."

"What're you looking at us for…?" Chie snapped when she noticed Yosuke was staring at her and Yukiko who were both extremely tired due to getting little sleep last night. "If you guys wanna swim, go right ahead."

"You know, you two still owe us," Yosuke remarked.

"Huh?" Chie blinked. "Whoa whoa whoa whoa, we're not going in there. I mean, we do owe you, but…Oh yeah, we don't have swimsuits with us! Man, of all the luck!"

"Y-Yeah, it really is unfortunate."

"Tadaaaa! I've got you covered!" Yosuke pulled out two female swimsuits. "They're Junes-brand originals, from our brand-new line of swimwear that just came in for the summer. I had a clerk friend of mine choose 'em for me. Pretty swanky, huh?"

"Dude, that's just wrong…" Chie remarked.

"Did you have those this whole time…?" Yukiko asked rubbing her tired eyes.

"C'mon, let's all go swimming!" Yosuke insisted.

"What should we do…?" Chie asked her friend.

"You owe us remember, Or I could call the favour in by having you payback all those steaks you've put on my tab." Yosuke suggested rubbing his chin thoughfully.

"Urgh…" Chie groaned.

"Y'know, we really were looking forward to dinner." Yosuke began. "We got lucky Yu and Nero had us covered…"

"Ngh…" The girls flinched at the thought of the botched curry.

"I wonder what would've happened if we didn't help you guys last night…" Yosuke continued.

"We get it already!" Chie snapped. "Sheesh, you just never let things go!"

"Alright! That's more like it!" Yosuke said with a grin

Sometime later, Yu and Yosuke were waiting with Kanji for Yukiko and Chie to come back from changing into their swimsuits. Yosuke was wearing a pair of red swim trunks with a floral pattern on it. Yu was wearing the swim trunks Dojima had gotten him for Children's Day.

"Ugh, how far off did those two go to get changed…?" Yosuke remarked.

"C'mon, let's get in." Chie's voice said as she and Yukiko returned.

"O-Okay…" Yukiko squeaked out.

The two were now wearing the swimsuits Yosuke had given them. Yukiko wore a two-piece swimsuit that was mostly light pink in coloration and had a skirt-like bottom. Chie also wore a two-piece, but unlike Yukiko's swimsuit, hers had a sportier appearance, had shorts for bottoms, and was a mix between yellow and light blue.

"Whoa…Man…" Yosuke was impressed with what he was seeing.

Kanji's face turned red as he saw Chie and Yukiko. "…"

"S-Stop staring like that!" Chie demanded nervously as she blushed.

"H-Hey…" Yukiko's face was just as red as Chie's.

"You two look cute…" Yu stared wide-eyed at the two girls.

"Wh-Where did that come from?!" Chie sputtered.

Chie and Yukiko's faces were even redder than before. They seemed rather embarrassed.

"Man, this is going even better than I expected," Yosuke remarked. "Kinda makes up for having to eat that Mystery Food X last night. And c'mon, you guys gotta admit I chose some good suits. Those girls might be childish on the inside, but I bet they're gonna turn into some fine-looking women before too long! Don't you think so, Yu?"

"Yeah, definitely." Yu agreed.

Yukiko and Chie were no longer amused.

"You guys crossed the line…" Chie glared at Yu and Yosuke as she placed her hands on her hips.

"…Definitely." Yukiko nodded to her friend.

In sync the two made to push Yu and Yosuke off the cliff, sadly tired as they were due to being kept all night by Hanako's snoring they stumbled into each other and missed their targets, they began plummeting off the cliff, however unfortunately for Yosuke his E ranked luck kicked in and Chie's foot caught his trunks pulling him off the cliff with her.

There was a loud splash as the three landed in the river below. Kanji and Yu saw all three of them shivering.

"D-damn it, this r-river is f-f-freezing!" Chie yelled.

"Why the hell did you take me with you Chie!" Yosuke yelled.

"You shoulda stayed still!" Chie argued.

"And let you push me? Where's the sense in that?"

"Hey do you guys hear something?" Yukiko asked causing the duo to pause in their arguing.

As they listened they heard a familiar voice heaving upstream.

"Hey isn't that King Moron?" Kanji asked.

Sure enough upstream near the top of the waterfall was King Moron, heaving into the river and complaining about drinking too much.

"Good thing we never went in huh Kanji?" Yu asked the other boy.

"Yup."

"This is all your fault Chie." Yosuke groaned.

The Kung Fu girl had nothing to counter the argument and instead opted to get out of the river as fast as possible.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After having dried themselves off Yukiko, Yosuke and Chie headed back to the campsite to pack up and go home. Yukiko and Yosuke were talking with Yu and Kanji while Chie hung back. The path was deserted so no one would be around to see her. When the others were far enough ahead she walked over to a tree and lent against a tree, her fringe shadowing her eyes.

"Shuwen, show yourself." She commanded her voice shaking.

"Is something matter student?" The assassin asked appearing nearby in spirit form.

"You killed those people." Chie stammered out accusingly.

"I assume you've seen some portions of my life through the Dream Cycle." Li Shuwen sighed looking otherwise unconcerned at the accusation "But I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific than that, after as many have fallen to your fists as they have mine you eventually just stop counting."

"But, you didn't have to kill them! You could have just let them go...so Why?!" Chie demanded angrily.

"Girl, throughout our time together can you ever recall when I said that I was a good person?" Shuwen asked casually.

Chie froze, she realised that throughout this whole time she had been so excited with have a proper martial arts master that she had never questioned him about things like morality, she had simply assumed that because he was her Persona that they shared the same morality.

"I am a killer, and I will not deny that." Lu Shuwen confessed with a shrug "Killing is something I was good at and none could stop me. Good, evil they mean nothing to me. Weak or strong I will crush any who oppose me until someone stronger comes along and defeats me. The strong devouring the weak is simply the way of the world the sooner you learn to accept that the better off you will be."

"Never!" Chie growled.

"Hmmm?"

"I'll never accept that!" Chie yelled "I'll learn everything you have to teach, and then I'll use that skill to protect the weak! Even if it takes all my life I'll keep protecting those who are weaker than me and, one day, I'll become a Heroic Spirit too! And then I'll use all my skill to CRUSH you!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA" Li Shuwen burst into a hysterical laughter.

"Why are you laughing?" Chie demanded fiercely. "I'm serious!"

"I accept your challenge." The assassin said after he got his laughter under control. "Chie Satonaka I will teach you everything I know; no move or technique will be kept secret from you. Then when that day comes when you ascend to the Throne of Heroes know that your teacher will be waiting for you. Be warned that if you cannot live up to your words and crush me, then I will spend all of eternity torturing you until you see the world my way."

"You don't scare me." Chie growled. "I will crush you no matter what it takes."

With that declaration, the day ended and the students were taken back to the school so they could make their way home. One girl I particular had a fierce new determination burning inside of her.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[06/18 Location Unknown]

Lord El Melloi the second and Zelretch had arrived in the realm that represented Yu Narukami's soul. Waver had allowed himself to be dragged here after the Wizard Marshal refused to leave him alone.

"So why are we here?" Waver asked with a sigh.

"We're here because A, I wanted to see what it was like in here and B, you could use a laugh and this is just the place for it." Zelretch replied smugly.

In front of them was a large blueish purple three story building with a neon sign above the doors saying Velvet Club.

"It looks like a nightclub." Waver observed "What is it doing here?"

"Well Narukami's Persona's need somewhere to hang out when they're not on the clock right?" Zelretch said with a smirk.

"I swear being with you is more a headache than its worth." Waver groaned massaging his temples to stave the oncoming migraine.

The two approached the front door, near it was a greyed out little girl a sleeveless jacket with a belt going across it just below her small chest. On her legs were thigh high stockings and on her feet were shoes. Bandages were wrapped around hands; belts were on her arms as well tied just above the bandages.

They opened the door and peaked inside. Nothing could have prepared Waver for what he saw.

Inside Gawain sat the bar with Lancelot drinking a mug of beer watching the scene nearby.

Nursery Rhyme with Semiramis stood wearing crowns while looking at Lancer who was dressed as an Ace of Clubs Card Soldier. He was forcefully knelt down by Medusa and Atalanta, while Medea stood snickering at his predicament. Unnoticed by all of them a golden armoured man watched the scene with amusement.

"Hello my adoring audience and welcome to the Velvet Club." Nero spoke to the club while standing onstage using her sword as if it was a microphone. "I your generous emperor have granted you the privilege of being your lovely host from this night onwards, are you not honoured?"

Everyone in the club save a certain golden armoured person on the second floor clapped. Although whether it was because they liked Nero or the fact that the spotlights allowed them a better view of the transparent portion of her dress none could say. Though Waver was struck speechless while the Old Man of Jewels chuckled at the scene.

"At the Velvet Club, we have drinks, we have games, we have prizes for some of the games." Nero announced theatrically while making motions with her free hand. "But now, we some special entertainment lined up for you tonight, it would seem everyone's favourite dog's E Ranked Luck has struck again. Give a round of applause for our own Lancer and see what he's put his foot in this time!"

Cheers erupted from the audience as the spotlight focused on Cu Challain and his current predicament.

"What the hell are you doing?" Lancer yelled angrily, he was currently dressed as a card soldier. "Why the hell am I dressed like this and why am I kneeling?"

"SILENCE!" Semiramis yelled at the top of her voice. "You have committed a high crime now you will be judged for it."

"What crime? YEOW! WHAT THE HELL?!" Lancer yelled as Medusa jabbed him with her weapon to silence him.

"You painted the roses red." Nursery Rhyme stated in a cold tone.

"What roses?"

Atalanta simply pointed to planted pot of white roses that had been sloppily painted red sitting the middle of the room.

"I've never even seen those before and besides you have no proof that I painted them." Lancer objected loudly.

"You've been caught red handed." Nursery Rhyme contradicted him pointing to his hands one of which had a freshly used paintbrush in it both hands were dripping with red paint.

"What the hell?! You assholes are setting me up!" Lancer yelled getting angrier, but was unable to break free of the grip that held him.

"It is quite lucky for you that I am merciful Queen." Semiramis said "I have decided your punishment shall be a light one..."

It was then a certain king of heroes began getting bored. None of the idiots below could see him, and none of them bothered to look up when he spoke, almost as though he was invisible to them. However, they did hear him and he could still get more amusement out of this and so doing his best impression of Semiramis voice he prepared to cause more chaos.

"OFF WITH HIS HEAD!" Gilgamesh yelled his voice sounding very much like Semiramis own, so much so that none of the others objected.

Medusa and Atalanta promptly forced Lancer into a position so he was facing the ground. He managed to look up and saw the Jabberwocky wielding a large Warhammer that was bigger than half of Lancer's body.

His screams of panic went unheard as nearly all the Persona's burst into a small song.

"He's going to lose his head, for painting the roses red, it serves him right, he planted white, the roses should be red." The Jabberwocky raised the Warhammer. "Oh, he's going to lose his head…"

Lancer screamed as the Warhammer crashed down on him creating a Lancer shaped hole in the floor. After the dust settled Atalanta peered down into the hole.

"Lancer died." Atalanta reported using her Archer class vision to see his partly crushed body.

"They're not human." Waver griped unsure what to make of the scene, seeing Gawain and Lancelot snicker at Lancer's fate.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]
> 
> AN: So for those of you who are wondering, here are the Arcana and their corresponding Heroic Spirits that Yu has unlocked. Also for the Velvet Club, I've been watching Carnival Phantasm and was inspired, also I got sick of coming up with segments for Waver and Zelretch I decided to do those instead. I hope you enjoy them. Also for the scene between Li Shuwen and Chie give some thanks to SaintInfernalNeos for contributing to that scene.
> 
> 0\. The Fool Arcana: Gawain. Class: Saber  
> I. The Magician Arcana: Semiramis. Class: Assassin  
> II. The Priestess Arcana: Nursery Rhyme. Class: Caster  
> III. The Empress Arcana: Atalanta. Class: Archer  
> IV. The Emperor Arcana: Nero. Class: Saber  
> VII. The Chariot Arcana: Cú Chulainn. Class: Lancer  
> VIII. Strength Arcana: Lancelot. Class: Berserker  
> XVIII. The Moon Arcana: Medea. Class: Caster  
> XX. The Aeon Arcana: Medusa. Class: Rider


	9. Spending time with the Tyrant of Rome

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or Fate or anything in the nasuverse, any resemblance to any other Persona 4/Fate fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[06/19 Velvet Room]

After waking up from returning home from the school camping trip Yu planned to try and get to know Nero a bit better. He knew she was loved art and so arranged to go visit the Okina City Museum with her later on. Before that, he decided to visit the Velvet Room again. Once again the voices of his Persona's went silent and strangely neither Igor nor Marie were present, only Margaret who looked to be in deep thought.

"Oh my, you're here." Margaret stated noticing Yu's presence yet remaining seemingly unsurprised. "I have pondering on the story of Sir Gawain that you told me."

'So that's what she's thinking about.' Yu thought to himself 'She spends all her time here, if I had her job I'd ponder about the outside world and what I've been told about it as well.'

"I would like to ask if all the Heroes' stories are as bitter as that and much darker than how modern humans think they are?" Margaret asked.

Yu fell silent for a moment thinking carefully about to answer. For some reason he felt compelled to speak about Cu Chulainn. He could embellish the story, omit certain truths to make it seem happier, but Yu didn't think that was what Margaret wanted. Even if the otherworldly woman accepted what was said to her, the way her golden eyes seemed to peer into his very soul told him that she would see through any lie or omission instantly. So gathering his courage Yu began to speak another tale, drawing from the Chariot Arcana and the Persona who represented it.

"This story begins when a flock of birds descended on Emain Macha and ate all the grass, the Ulstermen who lived there were furious decided to hunt them, and they set off after them in their chariots..."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[06/19 Junes Entrance, Junes, Inaba]

After finishing up in the Velvet Room, Yu found himself wandering around town for a little while. His Persona's bantered in the back of his mind with Medusa remaining stoic as usual while Gawain and Lancelot had a surprisingly civil interaction with one another. Yu was afraid that a fight would break out when he awakened Lancelot but to his surprise neither seemed to wish to continue holding a grudge against one another, despite the animosity between them in the legend.

"What are you doing here?" Yu looked up at the familiar voice to see Adachi slacking off again in Junes.

"I arranged to take a friend out but that's not until later." Yu told Adachi vaguely "So I thought I'd kill some time by getting some groceries for dinner."

"Shopping for dinner? I'm impressed." Adachi said. "I live alone, so taking care of dinner can be pretty tedious."

"You don't eat?" Yu asked

"Sure I eat, but I just get so tired after work so I make some cup ramen or something." The cop shrugged.

" _This person does not eat very well; Praetor you should invite him over to sample some of your own cooking._ " Nero declared appearing in Spirit Form.

For moment Yu felt a shiver go down his spine, like someone or something was angry with him, he looked around confused before shrugging it off when none of his Persona's spoke up.

"I could make dinner if you want." Yu offered seeing no problem with Nero's suggestion.

"Like... you'd come over to my house? Ha-ha, that would be interesting. But I'd prefer a girl to come over." Adachi began smiling softly. "Cute girls are the best. Though I go for the real knockouts, myself. The most important thing is that they should be good cooks. Everything else, I can take or leave…"

Adachi suddenly stopped talking and cringed as an old woman approached them.

"Tohru! Is that you?" she asked walking closer.

"Shit... She found me." Adachi mumbled causing Cu Chulainn to laugh as he appeared in spirit form.

"Are you off work?" The old woman asked "I hope you're not doing anything dangerous!"

"Oh... No, I'm still on the clock. I was just on my way back to the

station." Adachi said quickly coming up with an excuse.

"I'm so happy to see you working hard. I brag about you to my neighbours all the time!" The Old lady said proudly "I'll bring you some nimono, okay? You have to take care of yourself! By the way, I saw this detective show on TV the other day..."

"Um... I need to get back…" Adachi said clearly wishing to end the conversation with the woman quickly.

Oh, is it that time already? I hope your day goes well, then." The old lady said as she left through the doors.

"Finally..." Adachi let out a relieved sigh. "I guess her son has the same name as me. That's probably why she's been hanging around me ever since she found out my name. I don't know. She always brings huge heaps of that nimono to the station and she'll talk your ear off if you let her... It's so annoying."

"That does sound annoying." Yu stated thinking back to when he constantly moved about. Eventually he had resigned himself to just not opening up to anybody, that way he didn't have to feel the pain that came with 'friends' breaking their promises to contact him or stay friends no matter what. That part of him was still surprised that he was giving Yosuke and the others a chance for this friendship thing, then again if not for the TV World and the murders, truthfully he would have blown Yosuke off by now.

"Doesn't it? She's like that practically every day." Adachi sighed with annoyance "She's the exact opposite of my parents, so I can't relate to people like that. She's lonely, I guess. I don't think she has any relatives, then again I can't just ignore her, either cause Its part of my job. The police have been busy lately, so I'm the only one who can deal with her."

Despite his griping, Yu could see that Adachi looked happy he felt like he's seen a new side of to the police officer.

"Though I wish I shared a name with her grandson instead! I'm still only twenty-seven, after all." Adachi said "Well, I should head back, or Dojima will really chew me out, apparently the brass really wants to catch this Space Samurai guy, see ya."

"Bye." Yu waved slightly as Adachi made his way out of Junes and quickly walked down a back road with few people. "Hey did any of you feel anything 'strange' just now?"

" _What do you mean?_ " Cu Chulainn asked.

" _Did you feel something?_ " Semiramis asked

"No, I'm probably just imagining things." Yu denied after a few seconds.

" _To be fair you haven't had time to truly relax, it's unsurprising that you would be stressed._ " Atlanta pointed out.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"What the hell was that about?" Adachi asked when he was sure no one could see or overhear him. "If I hadn't shoved your presence down you could gotten us busted."

" _It was a slip when I saw that heroic spirit, it won't happen again._ " The shaded figure stated emerging from the depths of Adachi's soul.

"I hope not; I don't feel like having suspicion thrown on me because you couldn't keep it in your pants." Adachi griped as he continued on his way back to the police station.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[06/19 Okina Museum of Art, Okina City, Inaba]

Eventually the time for the museum trip came and Yu rode the train to Okina city with a rucksack on his bag containing his Space Samurai costume just in case. Once he was near the museum he ducked into an alley and materialised Nero.

"Praetor, I knew you would summon me it is only natural, after all who could resist my gazing upon my greatness?" Nero declared haughtily as she materialised.

"The museum here in Okina City is hosting art exhibits from around the world." Yu told her unfazed by the emperor's haughty attitude. "You seemed interested in art so I thought you might want to come and see it with me."

"Really?!" Nero's face of joy quickly changed to one of haughtiness as she caught herself and cleared her throat. "I mean…. naturally you would choose me to visit such a place with you, after all my presence is a wonder to behold, you have surely recognised that it would be a crime to keep such glory away from the adoring masses."

"The exhibition should be open now, let's go."

As the boy lead the persona out of the alley neither of them noticed a shadowy figure watching the two. The figure had watched the boy in the forest the other day, it felt jealous at seeing him so close with another but upon sensing that the other was just a part of the boy's soul the figure calmed and decided to continue following the object of its affection.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Going through the entrance to the museum with Nero, Yu stopped at the front desk first in order to pay for admission.

"Admission is one thousand yen per person." The clerk stated with a perky tone.

"Just the two of us, here you go." Yu withdrew two one thousand yen notes from his wallet and handed them over to the clerk who pressed a button which opened the electronic gate allowing them into the museum proper.

"There are so many exhibits where should we go first?" Nero asked excitedly as they passed through the gate.

Yu personally thought she was barely restraining herself from jumping up and down like an eager child. "I would love to see the works my own country, but there's an ancient Greek exhibit, oh, oh, ancient Egypt over there!"

Nero's excited manner was attracting attention from people, causing them to look at her. Some of the men began leering when they realised they could see through her dress while women and mother's gave her glares and scandalised looks respectively before dragging their husbands, boyfriends and children away from her.

Looking over the various signs and banners which advertised different exhibits Yu and Nero eventually settled on the ancient Greek exhibit. Shrugging the rucksack into a more comfortable position Yu found Nero quick to agree with his choice. While the pair were walking down the corridor towards the exhibit none in the museum noticed the concealed presence which had easily slipped through the entrance. Security cameras and other modern devices of detection were of no concern, careful to keep its presence concealed it followed the object of its affection, make sure to stick to the shadows just in case.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Going through the Greek exhibit was a bit challenging, Yu and Nero had to slip over the artwork depicting the gods, especially Aphrodite and Athena, mostly due to the annoyance and discomfort from Medea and Medusa due to their experiences with said deities.

The Fool honestly couldn't blame them, like so many others of legend the fates dealt to them by gods who felt it was their right to do whatever they wished to whomever they wished, were unfair.

" _The Gods and their wretched era is long over. Humanity does not need gods they only need their king._ " The arrogant voice spoke up once more with a sneer, clearly unhappy at the subject of the gods as Yu felt the presence surge within him somehow unnoticed by his Persona's. " _What are gods anyway but safety blankets for mongrels with a primitive fear of the moon?_ "

Feeling the presence recede again Yu focused his attention back on Nero who was currently examining a statue of Hercules. It rather different from the Heroic Spirit which was now Kanji's persona. For one the statue was smaller and its muscles were far smaller.

His flared when he saw the Persona grab her head in pain.

"You've been having those headaches sporadically for a while now." Yu pointed out, concern for the Persona in his tone. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"I am fine Praetor." Nero waved him off reassuringly. "These headaches are nothing to be concerned about."

"I understand if you don't want talk about it because it's personal." Yu told her "But I promise no matter what, I won't judge you, I don't care what other people have said about you. I want to know about the real Nero, her life from her own mouth not from the pages of a history book."

"…." The historical tyrant let out a sigh of annoyance before taking a seat upon the soft material bench that was nearby, Yu took a seat next to her. "You are a persistent one, but if it is a tale about your emperor you wish to hear then I shall indulge you, the story of my migraine's begins with my mother."

Julia Agrippina also known as Agrippina the Younger if Yu recalled his history correctly. She was twice widowed and exiled in 39 AD for taking part in a conspiracy against Gaius Caesar Germanicus also known as Emperor Caligula. Her exile was lifted by her uncle Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus better known as Emperor Claudius.

Later she married her uncle in order to make sure that Nero was the next in line for the throne. While history was unclear on the matter Nero confirmed that her mother took extreme measures and murdered Claudius by poisoning him after he started to regret marrying Agrippina and adopting Nero.

With his death Nero ascended to the throne and became ruler of the Roman Empire. She apparently had no lost love for family members who resented her illegitimate birth right. She loved the nameless citizens of her empire more than any of her famous noble relatives.

"My mother was always power hungry." Nero stated matter-of-factly "Ever since I was young she planned to install me on the throne so that she may rule the empire. Murdering relatives or anyone who stood in the way was nothing to her. Eventually in fifty-nine AD I had enough of her and the way she made various policies in self-interest. I hired an assassin to deal with her, however he failed and I was forced to cut her down publically."

Nero paused for a moment and gazed at a tapestry depicting a battle between Hercules and the Nemean lion.

"It was about that time that I became afflicted with headaches. As it turned out my mother had been poisoning me since I was a child, so as not to defy her I was given the antidote in tandem, so when the witch took the antidote with her to the grave, after that delirium set in and well…. I'm sure you know of what happened next."

He certainly did, Nero was eventually driven out of her position during a revolt in 68 AD lead by Vindex in Gallia. At first, she ignored the situation, perhaps she still trusted Vindex, the inciter of the rebellion. From what he knew it was more likely that Nero she was suffering from despair and simply wished for the situation to go away. Two years later, Vindex would incite another rebellion and by then the senate had enough with Nero. The senate was so displeased with her mishandling of the revolt that they called her a traitor and she was forced to escape from Rome.

Nero was convinced that her popular policies and her popularity with the people would protect her from being forced to abdicate the throne. However, the public was silent and did nothing to protect her. The Roman people had abandoned her, even after she had devoted so much for them. So in a villa outside of Rome Nero hesitated several times but eventually worked up the courage to commit suicide.

One would think hearing this that Nero would have hated her people, but it was quite the opposite. She loved her people with all her heart but she couldn't understand the kind of love that they embraced and thus she couldn't understand their hearts and in turn they couldn't understand her.

"W-what are doing?!" Nero demanded her face flushing red as Yu pulled her into a comforting hug.

"It's ok you know." The tyrant of Rome let out a surprised gasp. "Human beings stumble and make mistakes every day in pursuit of our dream which wait in an ever distant utopia that is always just out of reach, maybe we humans are stubborn, or perhaps we're just too stupid to know when to give up chasing it, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes the road does get hard and we trip up and feel like we can't go on, that's why forge bonds with others and make friends, so that with the strength they lend us and we which we lend them we can pave the path to tomorrow and keep moving forward."

Nero's face was no longer flushed red, she appeared entranced by the words Yu spoke to her. He honestly didn't know where it was coming from but kept talking.

"You did your best as an Emperor and as a human being, maybe your life wasn't perfect but not even the greatest of heroes can claim to have had a perfect life. When I look at you I don't see a cruel Tyrant or an Emperor." The Persona of the Emperor Arcana gave the Fool a confused look. "What I see before me right now is a girl, who has spent her life trying desperately not to cry despite all the pain she was made to endure throughout it. Emperor Nero, it is ok to cry; A poet once said 'tears are the heart's petals' so if you need to don't be afraid to show the petals of your heart there is no shame in letting beauty be seen by others."

Nero was silent for a few moments before her eyes began to water and she pressed her face into Yu's jacket as she let her heart's petals show.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

In a part of the exhibit adjacent to the one where Yu and Nero were situated the being that followed them had been listening through the thin museum walls. It heard the words of comfort that the one it had feelings for speak to that Persona, and although it was only a fragment of the beloved's self the jealousy felt grew several times.

Concentration broke and one of its hands began a great metallic claw which trembled as the being's feelings began to overwhelm it. Jealousy gave way to rage and with a swipe the claw dug into wall making a huge crash as it creating large gashes in the wall destroying a tapestry and a security camera before tearing the claw out with a huge crash.

All the noise quickly caused an alarm to begin blaring throughout the museum. The stalker was quickly brought back to reality by the noise, it could not be exposed, not yet. So shrinking its hand to normal size the being looking around and spotted freedom in the form of a TV screen. Quickly running at it and diving through as if it was water, the security guards came and found the damage but not perpetrator in sight.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[06/19 Yu's bedroom, Dojima residence, Inaba]

Entering his room after returning from the daytrip Yu flopped back onto his bed and reflected back on the day. Telling the story of Cu Chulainn to the mysterious Margaret had been interesting, as had hanging out with Adachi who apparently had a penchant for slacking off.

The museum trip had been a success; he'd gotten to know Nero better as he had wanted. She enjoyed herself thoroughly and let true self shine through even if it was during a few moments of tears.

They'd both been questioned by security after the alarm had gone off along with others. Apparently a tapestry and part of a wall in the adjacent exhibit had been destroyed and there no witnesses which is what triggered the alarm. It was at that point that Yu decided to call it day and went home.

'Maybe Medea can do something about Nero's Migraines.' Yu thought to himself 'It's not a curse from a god or a spirit, so with her magecraft she should easily be able to counter a migraine caused by poison.'


	11. Space Samurai Y gets a Cape (Also Rise)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or Fate or anything in the nasuverse, any resemblance to any other Persona 4/Fate fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[06/20 Monday, Junes Food Department, Junes, Inaba]

Rise Kujikawa was going incognito at Junes in order to buy some groceries for her grandmother who had been kind enough to let her stay in Inaba with her while she tried to figure out what she was going to do with herself during this hiatus.

'Oh crap, have I been discovered?' she wondered as she heard a commotion nearby.

Looking to her right she saw a crowd of people all looking at something, before she could get a good look however the crowd suddenly parted and a loud and clearly fake deep heroic voice yelled "FLYING KICK!"

Accompanying the yell was a black haired man wearing a bulky stretched out jumper, he flew backwards after being punched square in the face by another person. The other person was wearing a gentlemen's tuxedo with a magician's cape attached to it, a blond wig on covering his hair and a silver mask adorning his face with a comical smile on it.

"Ah you broke by dose!" The man on the ground cried holding his now bleed face.

"I broke more than that criminal." The masked man stated "I also broke your crime spree."

He then approached the man and kicked his jumper causing items of food, video games and electronic s to pour out causing the thief to panic. A pair of security guards closed in on the thief and desperately looked around hoping for a distraction before his eyes fell on Rise.

Seeing the way his eyes shone Rise gulped as he took a deep breath.

"DOOK IT'S BISETTE!" The man yelled pointing at her sending the crowd into an excited frenzy. However, before the thief could make a break for it the security guards grabbed him by both arms and hauled him to his feet, his broken nose bleeding more and more.

Rise became more nervous as the crowd more and more worked up asking for autographs and pictures when suddenly a loud shout stopped everyone.

"ENOUGH!" Rise looked to see a blue haired young man standing next to a police officer along with store security who was cuffing the criminal. "Everyone go back to your business this show is over get moving."

Reluctantly the crowd dispersed some snapping pictures of Rise or dialling numbers on their phones as they went back to shopping.

"Hold it you!" Rise froze as the young man in the blue hat yelled, she turned around only to see him pointing at the masked man who attempting to sneak away in an exaggerated cartoonish manner. "Space Samurai Y, I'm Naoto Shirogane a Private Detective and you are under arrest."

"And I'm Tohru Adachi Inaba police department." The police offer stated holding out his badge.

"Hmmm…..there is a problem with that tiny detective!" Space Samurai Y stated rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"And what is that?" Naoto asked glaring at the masked man.

"It's THAT YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE COPPERS!" with that declaration the masked vigilante took off running through the store.

What happened next made Rise swear she was in an American cartoon. She watched as the masked man ran through the aisle's with Adachi and Naoto quickly in pursuit in a cartoonish manner. Occasionally the detectives and the vigilante would pop out of different aisles, sometimes she would see the detectives running from one aisle to another while the vigilante would go in the opposite direction in a closer or distant aisle, in one instance she had to stop herself from giggling as the vigilante even started chasing them.

Eventually the two got tired of being made fools of and tried grabbing the vigilante by getting him from both sides. However, as they closed he leapt upwards in an almost superhuman manner and scrambled into a vent on the ceiling, making his escape.

"Ah man, Dojima's gonna chew me out for this." Adachi complained as the young detective next to him pulled his hat down over his face.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Having left the commotion behind Rise Kujikawa was now in the elevator heading down to the entrance so she could get home. As the elevator descended she sighed and reached to her the pocket of her purse to call her grandmother, to explain why she was late.

However, when her hand grasped nothing she looked down and saw that her phone was gone.

"Oh no, crap where did it go?" Rise grumbled rooting through her purse to see if the phone had fallen deeper inside "Don't tell me some creep from the crowd snatched it from me."

"Here you go are you looking for this?" a familiar voice asked holding out her cell phone to her.

"Oh thank you very much." Rise said gratefully accepting the phone back.

"Your welcome." It took only a couple of seconds for Rise's brain to catch up.

"AHHH!" she screamed upon realising she wasn't alone in the elevator, indeed standing next to her was Space Samurai Y, the vigilante from earlier. "W-where did you come from?!"

"From there." The masked man stated pointing up at the open hatch atop the elevator.

"W-what do you want?" Rise stammered nervously.

"To get to the ground floor quickly, why else would I take an elevator?" The vigilante answered with a shrug. "I am a superhero; I have things to do that don't include harassing idols." Eventually the elevator stopped and opened its doors. "They on the other hand probably have nothing better to do with their time."

When she stepped off the elevator and stood at the vigilante's side Rise groaned upon seeing a large crowd of fans calling her name and taking photos with their cell phone cameras' outside the store entrance.

"Oh man, now how am I supposed to get home without all these people following me?" The idol groaned

"Hmm…..your last name is Kujikawa yes?" Space Samurai Y asked still using that fake heroic voice "Any relation to old lady Kujikawa who runs Marukyu Tofu?"

"Yes she's my grandma, but what difference does that make now?"

"Worry not my dear, I simply needed to know where I was going." The vigilante answered "Now I can get you home without any of these vultures following but I need you to do two things."

"What are they?" Rise asked hoping the masked man didn't want anything weird as he lead her out the door causing the crowd to get louder.

"First I need you to trust me."

"…ok, I don't really have anything to lose." Rise sighed.

"Second, hang on tight."

"Hang on what are you…WHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Rise screamed at the top of her lungs as the vigilante suddenly grabbed her into a bridal carry and jumped with superhuman ability far above the crowd and lending on the wire fence on the opposite side of the car park.

She screamed again as he jumped even higher and going even further as they quickly left Junes behind.

Suddenly running out of the store were Adachi and Naoto, both of whom gaped at the sight of the vigilante jumping away with the screaming idol in his arms.

"T-that…that's impossible." Naoto cried losing his cool over the superhuman display.

"That was so freakin cool, how did he do that?" Adachi asked supressing a smirk at the look of frustration on Naoto's face as the vigilante quickly vanished from sight.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

It didn't take long for Space Samurai Y and Rise to reach the shopping district, now his leaps had become short as he landed on a rooftop, ran to its edge and jumped again. On the plus side it appeared Rise had stopped screaming but the masked hero got the feeling she was far from pleased.

Leaping over the street to the rooftops opposite, not seeing a certain delivery girl on her scooter looking up at him, he eventually came to a stop outside Marukyu Tofu.

"Here you are, safe and sound." The hero said setting Rise down, somehow she had managed not to drop the groceries she had bought throughout all that jumping, running and leaping.

Rise began taking deep breaths and bent over gasping for breath as she tried to calm down from sudden shock of being carried in such a manner.

"W-WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! ARE YOU CRAZY!" Rise screeched at the masked man as she patting her chest trying to slow her racing heart.

The hero stood unfazed and merely waited as the idol took a few more deep breaths before calming down.

"But, you did get me away from that crowd so they couldn't follow me. So thanks I guess." Rise said after she calmed down.

"It was no problem; a superhero should always help those in need." Space Samurai Y declared before turning around. "Farewell."

With that he made another superhuman jump and leapt away leaving a stunned idol behind who walked into the tofu shop after a few seconds of looking in the direction the masked man gone.

She had been unaware that across the street a blue haired girl on a scooter had been watching her. A few seconds after the idol went inside she turned around drove off, headed for the north shopping district.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Later that afternoon at the Dojima residence Yu had returned home and was eating dinner with Dojima and Nanako.

"That concludes Rise Kujikawa's statement on her leave of absence from the entertainment industry." The agency spokesman on TV said "We're short on time, so if anyone has any remaining questions, we ask that you keep them brief."

"I'm Ishioka from Lady's Views" a magazine reporter introduced herself "It says here that you'll be recuperating – are you facing physical problems?"

"No" Rise denied "My health isn't an issue"

"Psychological problems then" the reporter jumped in clearly trying to get something juicy.

"Wha-?" Rise was clearly caught off guard.

"Rumour has it you'll be staying with your relatives, but isn't that in Inaba where the murders are taking place!?"

"Huh? Um…" Rise was clearly not on top of her game, the reporter was clearly managing to dig into her.

"Is it true that they run a traditional tofu shop" The reporter kept going with no regard for Rise at all " Will you be helping out with the family business!?"

"No more questions" the agency spokesman's said finally stepping in "This press conference is over! Clear the way please."

The press conference erupted into chaos as Rise vanished from the screen along with the Agency spokesman.

"Is Rise-chan quitting her job on TV?" Nanako asked

"Who knows" Dojima said "But if this is her hometown we'll have to deal with everyone who's trying to get a glimpse. The one good thing about this town was that it had nothing of note, and now we get all of the buzz and on top of that a masked loon running around…What's going on?"

Yu didn't visibly react when Cu Chulainn burst out laughing along with Nero, their translucent spirit forms supporting each other as they laughed, while Gawain visibly face palmed in embarrassment. The other persona's all had their reactions varying from amusement to small smirks and emberassment.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[06/21 Tuesday, Junes Food Department, Junes, Inaba]

The next day the team gathered at the food court where they continued discussing the murder case.

"Are you serious Yukiko?" Yosuke asked the Amagi girl "You know Rise's family?"

"Well the news mentioned a traditional tofu shop" Yukiko explained "And I'm pretty sure that its Marukyu we have their Tofu at the inn."

"Oh, that place, so if we go and buy some tofu then I could meet Rise." Yosuke realised "Wait, does that mean I can meet Rise if I go to her tofu shop!?"

"Settle down, this isn't the time for stupid games." Chie growled causing Yosuke to chuckle nervously and raise his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Yeah but if all the cases so far have been people on TV then she could be next." Yu pointed out.

"Yeah but she's been on TV alot, why would now be any different?" Yosuke asked

"Well I did a little research, it turns out that Rise and Ms Yamano have crossed paths before." Yukiko told them. "They've been guests on the same talk show."

"But with all this fuss about her taking a sudden hiatus she's the talk of the town right now." Chie said "And because she's moved here it'll just get worse."

"Good point, if our theory is correct then she fits the criteria perfectly. Which means…." Yosuke trailed off thoughtfully.

"Which means what?" Kanji asked confusion.

"If whoever's behind the killings does go after Rise then we're right the killer is targeting people from here who end up on the news." Yosuke explained.

"It'll also mean that he's not targeting people connected to Ms Yamano's murder." Yu put in.

"Ohhh… Yeah, I get." Kanji nodded in understanding.

"Hey by the way Yosuke I heard that Space Samurai guy was here yesterday and that he ran off with Rise Kujikawa, is it true?" Yukiko asked.

"Oh yeah, he stopped some shoplifter by breaking his nose." Yosuke answered "The guy apparently spotting Rise dressed incognito and tried to expose her and make a getaway in the confusion. Thankfully security nabbed the guy before he could run off."

"And what about him running off with Rise?" Chie asked.

"Oh apparently he led a detective and that Naoto kid on a chase through the store." Yosuke explained with a smirk "Some of the other employee's said it was hilarious watching them run back and for, eventually the guy just jumped straight into a vent on the ceiling, he probably used that to get into the elevator through the lift shaft. After that he just waited for the elevator to stop then he picked her up and jumped off with her."

"From what I heard from some guests who were at the shopping district yesterday, he took her back to Marukyu later, apparently she's safe and sound." Yukiko stated.

"Getting back on topic we still have no idea what the killers motive is on that we're totally clueless." Yosuke sighed wearily.

"Well maybe this guy has some sort of grudge against us." Kanji suggested putting his hand his chest "I mean I know for a fact that there's a shitload of people that hate my guts. So how about you Yukiko is there anyone you might have pissed o-"

"Never." Yukiko said firmly causing everyone to blanche and look at her.

"Come on Yukiko everyone's pissed someone off even if they didn't mean too." Chie said nervously at Yukiko's quick denial.

"Either way we can be sure that Rise Kujikawa is real danger" Yu interrupted putting down the milkshake which he had been drinking.

"So let's stop by Marukyu Tofu tomorrow then" Yosuke said "Purely to keep Rise safe of course."

"Yeah you totally have no other motive Yosuke" Chie snorted

"What the hell does that mean?!" Yosuke demanded standing up and glaring at her angrily.

"You heard me!" Chie yelled standing up and glaring equally as angry.

"Hey guys-" Kanji stood up to end the argument between the two when Yu put a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's just leave them be" Yu said and began walking away.

"Yeah I need to get going" Yukiko said also leaving "Let's go home to together Kanji"

"Ok Sempai" Kanji agreed.

The three promptly left Chie and Yosuke to their argument alone in the Food Court.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[06/22 Wednesday, Class 2-2, Yasogami High, Inaba]

The next day after classes had ended; the team had gathered together and were discussing what they had seen on the Midnight Channel, as per usual a fuzzy image had appeared on the Midnight Channel it was difficult to make out but it could have been Rise.

"I'm telling you guys that was definitely Rise." Yosuke said insistently.

"How can you be so sure?" Chie asked suspiciously "The image looked too fuzzy to me to get any details out of it."

"I'm totally sure" Yosuke insisted "With those hips, that sweet rack and those beautiful legs that go on forever."

Yosuke then looked at Chie's own legs before a disappointed look covered his face.

"Hey! If you don't like my legs, then don't look at them!" Chie yelled blushing and covering up her legs

"Narukami, what do you think about this?" Yukiko asked

"Her legs are fine." Yu replied honestly

"Ah!" Chie's blush deepened at the statement.

"What? No!—!" Yosuke said shocked "…Dude, on this, we disagree."

A vein bulged in Chie's head for a second before she kicked Yosuke in the stomach sending him flying off the desk he was sitting on.

"Asshole!" she yelled.

"Hey guys are you taking this seriously?" Kanji asked with an annoyed sigh.

"We are" Yu and Chie said in unison.

"Then that Tofu shop, let's swing by." Kanji suggested.

"Good idea but Yukiko and I have to go to faculty officer first so we'll catch up with you later" Chie explained

"Ok then let's go" Yosuke said excitedly as he finally recovering from Chie's kick.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[Shopping District, Inaba]

"Just so you know, this is all about the investigation. We can't get all hung up on meeting Rise," Yosuke said as the three guys walked to the tofu shop.

"Uh huh, and who are you trying to convince me or yourself…?" Kanji asked with a scowl.

Eventually they reached Marukyu Tofu however there were a bunch of students from Yasogami there taking pictures of the building with the cameras in their cells.

"Man…there's a lot of freaky fans here…" Yosuke complained.

"The same thing could be said about us…" Kanji pointed out.

When crowd cleared out the four approached but paused when they saw a sign on the front of the store that read 'Out of tofu…'

"WHAT?! I came all the way to see Risette and it says they're out…?!"

"What's the big deal, I thought you were allergic to the stuff…?" Kanji said.

"It's the principle!" Yosuke said. "I came here to see Risette and I'm not leav-OW!"

Yosuke looked to see Yu's hand raised having slapped the back of his head. "Dude what was that for?"

"Yosuke, focus!" Yu commanded him. "We are here purely to make sure she's safe, nothing else understand? You are not to draw attention by asking for an autograph am I clear?"

"Y-yeah ok." Yosuke sighed.

Then he opened the sliding door and barged in.

"Hello? Anybody in here?" Yosuke asked weakly.

Out from a back room a girl came out wearing a white apron over white trousers and an orange shirt. She had a white scarf over her head.

"Didn't you guys read the sign…? We're out of tofu…?"

"It's Risette, it's actually her…" Yosuke said with disbelief.

"Say, you Rise?" Kanji asked bluntly.

"Just straight out with it huh?" She said, scratching her ear and looking down at the floor. "So are you here to get some tofu…?"

"Six gamnodoki please." Yu ordered.

"Six gamnodoki it is" Rise sighed wearily.

"Chick's got a real attitude," Kanji muttered.

" _Can you really blame her?_ " Cu Chulainn asked appearing in spirit form " _It must be a pain in the ass to have fans butting into your life twenty-four seven._ "

"Good point." Kanji conceded.

Yosuke meanwhile was admiring Rise's rear as she got the gamnodoki…

"Oh…I'm so glad we came…" Yosuke said with a cat like grin on his face. "Our mission is accomplished."

" _We still have work to do pervert._ " Nursery Rhyme stated shattering Yosuke's perving.

"Huh?" Yosuke froze up like a deer caught in headlights when he saw Nursery Rhyme glaring at him.

"Excuse me but has anything unusual happen here lately?" Yu asked getting to the point.

" _An acceptable start I suppose._ " Nursery Rhyme said with a sigh.

"What like a stalker…?" Rise replied.

"Yeah, have you heard of something called the Midnight Channel?" Yu asked.

"You mean that thing on TV last night? Yeah I saw it…" Rise told them.

"You actually watched it?" Yosuke asked surpised.

"Yeah, but the girl on TV wasn't me… I've never worn a bikini like that and her boobs were larger than mine…"

"Oh yeah…" Yosuke said, looking at Rise's chest before getting cuffed over the head by Kanji this time. "Ow damn it!"

"Down, boy…" Kanji sighed.

"Look there's a really good chance that whoever appears on that gets kidnapped." Yu warned as politely as he could.

Rise inhaled in shock.

"Look I know it sounds weird, but we're not lyin' or yankin' your chain." Kanji explained

"What are people doing around here? Beat it." A familiar voice said from outside.

Yu, Yosuke, and Kanji tensed up, albeit for different reasons.

"Excuse me? We…" Another voice said as he entered. It was Adachi. Behind him was Dojima…who visibly started at seeing four boys and a girl with Rise.

Dojima stared at all of them. Yosuke and Yu looked uncomfortable while Kanji was facing away.

"Hi… How's it going?" Yosuke said, scratching the back of his neck.

"What are you all doing here?" Dojima asked in a displeased, almost accusatory tone.

Kanji had been looking at Dojima, before facing away a second time.

"Kanji Tatsumi…" Dojima said in a suspicious manner noticing Kanji for the first time.

"We're here to get some gamnodoki…!" Yosuke nervously laughed. "We're gonna go now…"

Yosuke put the money into Rise's hand and the four quickly left escaping Dojima's scrutiny.

"I'm Detective Adachi of the Inaba Police Department…" He said holding up his badge. "We have a few questions for you…"

"You're a detective?" Rise asked.

"Look, I'm sure you've heard, but this area has been a little dangerous lately…" Dojima said. "So…what made you decide to take your break here?"

"It just seemed like the best place…" Rise said looking uncomfortable at the question.

"I'll be honest…And I don't mean to scare you or anything but…" Dojima said.

"There's a chance I'll be kidnapped, right?" Rise said bluntly.

"What?" Adachi said.

Dojima's suspicion was aroused and he raised an eyebrow.

"Those guys who just left warned me that might happen…I'll be careful, okay?"

"Really? They warned you about that…?" Adachi said.

Dojima looked even more bothered by this knowledge.

"I'm sorry, but if you'll excuse me, I have more stuff to do…" Rise said.

"Wait, we have more questions…" Adachi said but she ignored him and went into the back.

The two detectives went to their car; Adachi was looking at a poster of Rise dressed in a policewoman's uniform that was being used to drive up female recruitments into the police force. It said, "Protecting today so we can have a safe tomorrow…"

"Well, since she's in town we could have used some help from the top brass at the prefectural office to help out…" Adachi said before noticing that something was bothering Dojima. "What is it?"

"I came to warn Rise based off a gut instinct without any hard evidence… How could a bunch of high-schoolers without the inside scoop figure it out and beat us to it?" Dojima wondered rubbing his chin thoughtfully also unaware of the small grin on Adachi's face.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

When they were out of the shop and down the street Yosuke stopped his two friends.

"Ok, can you guys quit smacking me, it really hurts." Yosuke complained.

"Well you were making look like frigging weirdo's senpai." Kanji stated.

"Yeah besides we didn't hit you that hard." Yu said shrugging his shoulders.

"Didn't hit me that hard? It felt like I was going to get a concussion." Yosuke griped

"Oh come on we only slapped you like this." Kanji demonstrated by slapping a street light with the same strength he had slapped Yosuke on for the metal to crumple and dent at the force of the slap.

"Oh crap, look what you did." Yosuke gulped as he saw the pole of the street light deform partly at the smack causing the top to lean backwards slightly.

"M-maybe no one will notice?" Kanji hoped.

"Let's get out of here." Yu suggested walking away very fast.

"I'm all for that let's go."

"Right behind ya."

The three quickly took off hoping no one saw what had just happened. As they ran off Aika stopped her scooter near the street light and got off. She watched the three round the corner and looked around. The Shopping district was basically deserted and thankfully Dojima and Adachi had gone the other way down the street when they left the tofu shop.

Acting quickly, she placed her hand on the damaged street light and chanted quickly under her breath. If anyone had been watching it would have been as if time had reversed itself as the top of the street light righted itself and the dents made earlier simply filled back out as if nothing had happened.

"Troublesome." Aika sighed as she took her hand off the street light and looked in the direction the three boys had ran off.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

A few hours later after Dojima and Adachi had left Yu, Yosuke and Kanji returned to keep an eye on Rise. Sure enough she walked out of Marukyu Tofu she was wearing a pink sleeveless shirt over a gray t-shirt and had blue shorts and platform sandals on.

"What are we stalkin' this girl for?" Kanji asked.

"Because…if we stay in the shadows like this, then maybe we can find the guy who's after her…" Yosuke answered. "Be on the lookout for any suspicious characters…"

"Senpai, the only suspicious characters are us…" Kanji pointed out looking at Yosuke like he was an idiot.

"What exactly are you four doing out here?" Chie asked coming along with Yukiko and seeing the boys position.

"You look quite suspicious," Yukiko commented.

"Are YOU the killer?" Yu asked Yosuke with a deadpan look.

"Piss off!" Yosuke said with annoyance as he sweatdropped.

Rise stopped off at a magazine stand and flipped through a magazine. Soon everybody was behind a car and across the street. Aika arrived with food after Yosuke had gotten hungry and had taken everyone's orders.

"Here you go," Aika said.

"Wow! You do deliver anywhere!" Yosuke exclaimed.

"Just leave the bowls when you're done," She replied.

"I had the extra-large," Kanji said.

"Roast pork is mine!" Chie said.

"We had the large Tanmen…" Yu said taking his bowl.

"Hey keep your paws off the steak and rice…" Yosuke said quickly grabbing his bowl afraid that Chie might take it.

"The tofu ramen's mine…" Yukiko said taking her bowl

"Everybody back, the lunch special is for me." Adachi said taking his own lunch from Aika.

"Umm…did someone order a detective with their lunch?" Yosuke asked surprised that he never noticed Adachi before.

Aika ignored the situation, got back on her scooter and left to make more deliveries.

"Dojima told me to keep an eye out on…AH! I mean, I overheard you placing an order while I was doing IMPORTANT legwork for Dojima! Just good timing…" Adachi said with a nervous laugh as if he wasn't aware he that none of the group believed him.

"This totally blows. Eating with a cop is bad for my digestion…" Kanji muttered.

"She's leaving…" Yu said after noticing Rise finishing with the magazine.

"Great, let's get going!" Yosuke said, putting down his steak and rice.

"But the food…it just got here…" Adachi complained.

"C'mon, Yukiko!" Chie said.

"At least let me eat my tofu…" Yukiko protested stubbornly.

"Yosuke…" Chie said as she noticed something.

A man had just come out of an alley near the tofu shop. He wore a headband and had a backpack on; he definitely had a suspicious air about him. This was most likely because he was actually trying to be sneaky in the poorest manner possible.

"Could that be him?" Chie finished.

"Sure looks like it. After him…" Yosuke said.

Kanji finished his food and was praying towards the empty bowl by clapping his hands together.

"Ahhh… That totally hit the spot…" Kanji stood up and looked at man Chie had spotted "As for you…"

Kanji ran towards the suspicious guy.

"Come here…" Yosuke said.

The guy noticed several high schoolers running towards him. He ran before the blond one reached him…

"Come back here…" Kanji yelled

They ran past Rise, much to her confusion.

"I'll guard Rise!" Yosuke said.

"Dream on!" Chie growled grabbing Yosuke and dragging him along.

"Narukami! Keep an eye on her…" Yukiko said giving chase with the others

"Me?" Yu asked pointing to himself as the others ran off.

"Slow down you punk, so I can pummel your scrawny ass!" Kanji yelled angrily.

"No… don't do that… I'm a cop! If the suspect gets hurt. It'll be MY ENTIRE FAULT!" Adachi yelled in a panicked voice somehow keeping up with the teens.

"I'm confused." Rise said watching the scene with Yu sweatdropping at what was happening.

The others kept giving chase but despite being scrawny the suspicious man could certainly run fast. There was a highway with fast going cars coming up and he seemed intent on taking his chances with the cars.

"D-don't come near me!" The man yelled glancing backwards into the traffic.

"Shaddup!" Kanji yelled angrily "What kinda idiot would listen to—"

"I-I'll do it, you know! What're you gonna do if I get run over!?" The suspect cried apparently more than willing to throw his life away than get caught.

"Wh-What...!?" Yosuke gulped.

" _Master if he dies then any hopes of answers will be lost forever._ " Diarmuid pointed out.

"Now what do we do?" Chie asked nervously, she had only learnt the basics of her masters Presence Concealment technique and even if she knew more she'd blow their cover if she used it front of this guy and Adachi.

" _Lass, I think I have the answer but its gonna hurt._ " Drake stated

"I'll take anything you can offer right now." Yukiko mumbled to her persona.

" _Your body is still adapting to have a heroic spirit join with your soul, but if you circulate your prana into your legs I'll be able to loan you my speed._ " Drake told her " _The Rider class is renowned for its agility, mine might be B rank instead of A but it's still fast enough to catch him._ "

Yukiko nodded in affirmation and focused, she felt her prana and began channelling the strange energy into her legs. Within seconds it felt as though legs had been set aflame, she took a single step and the world seemed to blur, before Yukiko knew she was directly in front of the man and abruptly grabbed shirt and yanked it with such force than he flew over her shoulder and onto the ground behind her.

Kanji, Chie and Yosuke took the opportunity to pin the man while he was down.

"Hey leave me alone I'm just your average Risette loving fan boy," the suspect insisted.

"There's nothing average about murdering people douchebag" Kanji yelled keeping the man pinned.

"Murdering people?!" the guy said incredulously. "What are you talking about…?"

"Save it for the station, pal…" Adachi said with a grin "MAN! I always wanted to say that." He then saluted the teens. "On behalf of the police…thank you for apprehending the killer."

Adachi walked away with the suspect in cuffs.

"So that's it… It's all over now?"

"Yeah…We solved the case…WE ROCK!" Chie said.

"It's possible he was just a fan" Yukiko said with a doubting tone massing her now burning legs.

"Wait…did I really get kidnapped by a wimp like that?"

"No way" Yosuke glared in the direction Adachi had left with the 'suspect'.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[Samegawa Flood Plain, Inaba]

Later on Yu had brought Rise to the Samegawa Flood Plain to get away from what was happening

"Are you sure we're safe here?" Rise asked Yu.

"It's the best vantage point we could have," Yu replied.

"I'm used to this…having stalkers…" Rise said.

"Yeah, but wouldn't be better if you weren't used to this… or had stalkers?" Yu asked.

Rise sat down and looked at a magazine with her picture on the cover. She looked through pages of her in swimsuits and before tearing a page out.

"The girl everyone's making a fuss over…isn't the real me. It's just 'Risette' the idol…" Rise said bitterly folding up the page as Yu sat down to her left. "She's just another packaged product they've created to sell…"

Rise made the page into a paper airplane and threw It, the plane flew for a short distance before falling to the ground.

"Nobody actually sees the real me," She said with teary eyes which she closed trying to hide her pain… "Ever!"

Yu decided to cheer Rise up. He took a page from the magazine and made an origami crane.

"Wow…impressive!" Rise said taking a page and tried it herself…

"Wow you suck…" Yu said bluntly when she showed it to him.

" _Real smooth._ " Cu Chulainn chuckled.

"HEY! That wasn't very nice…" she said glaring at him.

"Sorry" Yu apologised cursing his bluntness.

She tried again and presented a better one.

"See, I can do it if I try…" she said

Yu responded by placing a smaller one to place next to hers.

"That's really cute!" Rise giggled.

Yu slightly smiled and pulled out his phone when he felt it vibrate in his pocket. It was a text from Yosuke that read: **Partner… The killer (?) has been caught…Hurry back with Risette!"**

"It looks like the coast is clear…" Yu said.

"Yeah…and it's getting dark..." Rise said getting and starting to walk up the hill before pausing. "Hey, you never told me your name…"

"I'm Yu… Yu Narukami" Yu said introducing himself.

"Hi…I'm Rise…" she introduced herself.

"Oh yeah I think I heard that on the news last night" Yu chuckled

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Later that night Yu was alone in the bedroom…. well alone if you didn't count the assortment of Heroic Spirits lazing about the room in spirit form. The Fool looked out the curtain and shut it after a few seconds of watching the rain fall.

The clock then struck midnight. The unplugged TV turned itself on. The image was less grainy this time. This time they clearly saw Rise on a stage with a pole in a bikini. Then TV abruptly turned itself off.

" _Naturally that scrawny man was not the culprit._ " Semiramis sighed.

"That's not good" Yu sighed "Well it was stupid of them to just assume that a scrawny guy like that could be the killer. He looked like he'd have a hard time lifting a small TV never mind pushing a person into one."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[06/23 Thursday, Yasogami High Roof]

During lunchtime the group had all gathered on the rooftop to discuss the case.

"Did you see the Midnight channel?" Yu asked

"Yeah I saw it and I caught a glimpse of her in the store this morning on my way here to school" Yosuke said. " It looks like that crazy variety show only starts to get going and become clear once they enter the TV"

"Maybe it's the person's shadow self-that's responsible for creating that program" Yukiko suggested "Like they're somehow projecting their thoughts to us in the form of a TV show."

"Yeah that could be but why does that fuzzy image come on before they enter then?" Chie asked.

"Maybe it's the killer's way of putting some sort of message or warning out there." Yu suggested.

"But who exactly is he trying to warn?" Chie asked "and why do that?"

" _It is not uncommon for serial killers to leave warnings or taunts when they are feeling unstoppable._ " Semiramis told them. " _So it is possible you are seeing who he plans to target next because he feels like no one can stop him._ "

"Wouldn't that mean that the stalker we nabbed earlier wasn't our guy then?" Kanji said glumly resting his face in one hand.

" _Took you long enough to figure it out._ " Nursery Rhyme snarked.

"The only thing we know for certain is that Rise Kujikawa is in real danger," Yu said.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Much later after classes were finished Yu was closing his shoe locker when he noticed a familiar girl in a female summer uniform with high white socks walking by.

"Rise?" Yu inquired.

"Oh… Narukami!" She greeted.

"What brings you here?" Yu asked.

"Oh… I registered for this school in one of the first-year classes. You go here, too?"

"Yes, I'm a second-year…"

"Well then, that makes you my Senpai…so I trust you to show me what you know…"

"I'll do that…" Yu chuckled.

Rise was about to go out the door when she noticed a large crowed of paparazzi outside the school gates.

"The press wasn't here when I got here… I wonder who told them…" Rise said dejectedly.

"I know of another way out…" Yu told her.

They went out the door that led to the Practice Building…but then Yu made a left and led Rise by the hand to a secret opening in fence that Kanji had showed him once.

"This is like a TV drama…" Rise giggled.

They made their way to the shopping district however by the time they got to Marukyu Tofu the press was there as well.

"We can't get by those press people either…" Rise said even more dejectedly.

"Rise…" Rise turned around to the familiar voice to see Inoue her former manager.

"We need to talk…"

He lead both of them to Tatsuhime Shrine so that they could talk without any crowds gathering.

"I didn't want to let you go without talking one last time…" Inoue said.

Yu just stood there and listened silently knowing that this was a private affair.

"Look, Inoue … I'm not going back… I want to be more than a doll that has her life scheduled for her without being allowed to breathe…"

"Rise…the role for that movie you were supposed to be in… it was given to Kanami…" Inoue told her looking sad.

"Kanami? You mean… Kanami Mashita?" Rise asked stunned

"I'm going to represent her now… to the best of my ability…" Inoue nodded in confirmation then turned around and started walking away. Then he stopped and slightly looking back said, "You were like a daughter to me… you were the best…but now… I have to move on…and Kanamin will be at the top in half the time it was for you…" With that Inoue walked away leaving a hurt Rise behind.

"Why… does this bother me? I'm out… this shouldn't bother me…" Rise stammered as she felt a stab of pain in her heart.

"It hurts to let something close to you go, even if it is for the sake of moving forward." Yu stated causing Rise to look at him in confusion.

"My parents are always travelling, their work takes them everywhere, sometimes even to other countries." Yu explained taking a seat on a nearby bench, Rise took a seat next to him wishing to hear more. "One of those trips they had to take me with to England I think, I can't really remember I was only six or at the time, and I was really lonely, I couldn't speak the language so none of the kids would play with me. But that all changed one day when Alice appeared to me. She looked to be about two years older than me and wore a Victorian era dress with a mass of frills and a looped skirt, she looked like a child's doll come to life because of her porcelain-white skin, she had these big pink eyes full that looked so sad when I looked into them. "

As he recounted the memory a smile crossed the Wild Cards face.

"When she spoke I could understand her, I was amazed but I didn't care how it was possible, she asked if she could be my friend, I instantly said yes. We'd talk and play games, like hide and seek and tag, and she'd read stories to me from books from the library even though I couldn't read English at the time. She was cold to touch but I didn't care. I was so happy to finally have a friend and told my parents about her, they acted strange whenever I talked about her, eventually they called a friend from the church a priest named Risei Kotomine. When they were talking I listened in, I was too young to understand a lot of what they were talking about, but I did understand that they were going to get rid of Alice and they were going to make me forget about her."

Yu let out a sad breath and kept going.

"I ran to find her and tried to warn her but she just smiled and accepted it, despite my pleading she didn't try run or get away, instead she just took my hand in her freezing cold ones and promised never to forget our time together and she made me promise the same. After I did the priest came in and what happened next is a blur. When I woke up my parents interrogated me about Alice, I pretended to have no idea what they were talking about and they seemed relieved and just left me be. After that I never saw Alice again, it hurt like nothing else having to move forward, it felt like I was leaving her behind. To this day I don't know what Alice was, if she really was a ghost, someone I made friends with or something else. Either way, I knew I could never forgive my parents for taking her away."

" _That explains my appearance._ " Nursery Rhyme sighed appearing in spirit form. " _My form reflects the desires of my master, in your case my form is identical to your long lost friend._ "

"So... what did you do?" Rise asked nervously.

"I distanced myself from my parents, not that they ever noticed. What I did do was treasure the bond I had made with her and all the memories that came with it." Yu stood up and stretched "If you want my advice Rise Kujikawa, think back on the precious memories you've made through your career and hold them close to you. It won't make the pain your feeling hurt any less but I guarantee it'll make the road ahead a lot easier than if you just tried to leave everything behind."

With that Yu walked away down the shrine steps leaving Rise Kujikawa alone with what he had said to her.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I wanted to do another Velvet Club scene here, I wanted to make it a recurring thing but sadly I am running low on ideas, so if anyone has any idea feel free submit them, if I do include an idea into a Velvet Club scene I will gladly credit whoever suggested it.


	12. The Lover's and The Star

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or Fate or anything in the nasuverse, any resemblance to any other Persona 4/Fate fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[06/23 Thursday, Yu's Room, Dojima Residence, Inaba]

The clock struck Midnight and as expected the Midnight channel appeared on Yu's TV, on the screen Rise's shadow was smiling and displaying her bikini's bust and her rear end to the camera.

"Marukyu… I'm a spring flower blooming into a high school idol" Rise's shadow said "That's right it's me Risette and this time…." It took out a school uniform and showed it the camera with a shy look before perking up. "I'm going to take on the most extreme challenge."

" _Woah, now this is my kinda show._ " Cu Chulainn said appearing in spirit form to watch.

Yu however either didn't hear her or was ignoring her as he and kept unconsciously hitting 'Record' on the remote several times while his eyes were glued to the TV screen which

"I'm going to strip for you" Shadow Rise proclaimed as the camera zoomed in on her body again.

"Strip?" Yu began sweating and hitting the record button faster, he was abruptly crowded by his Persona's appearing in Spirit Form a number of male's (and a surprising number of female ones) were staring intently at the screen. Although Gawain looked rather flustered and was trying to not to look.

"Oh I'm so embarrassed" She giggled and the camera zoomed in on her eyes "But if I'm gonna do it then…I am going to go all the way. I'll take it all off for you. So stay tuned. "

She then blew a kiss and the TV turned off. Yu was brought back to reality by his cell phone ringing.

"Hello?" Yu asked.

"DUDE?! Did she say strip?" Yosuke yelled excitedly down the phone causing Yu to move it away from his head and glare down the phone at Yosuke.

"Yes, she did," Yu replied.

"This is getting crazier and crazier!" Yosuke exclaimed.

Yu stopped and played the disc he'd recorded.

"Calm down…" Yu said with annoyance.

"Yeah, you're right." Yosuke paused. "That means she's in there, right?"

"Yes…" Yu said.

"That means we failed" Yosuke groaned "We even knew the target was this time we still could stop it."

"Let's go tomorrow…" Yu directed

"Yeah got it…" Yosuke hung up.

Yu had hit play on the disc and smirked as the broadcast had been successfully recorded. He stopped it and ejected the disc before putting it safely where no one but him would ever find it.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[06/24 Friday, TV world,]

The next day after classes had ended everyone had gathered together. Yu had a feeling so he did a walk around for clues about Rise and got her cellphone strap from her grandmother. With any luck it would help lead them to Rise in the TV World. When they entered the TV world they saw Teddie hunched over looking very depressed.

"Teddie? What's wrong?" Yu asked.

"You were all having fun without me… You fur-got about me!" Teddie complained sadly. "You abeardoned me!"

"You get lonely?" Yukiko asked surprised.

"Yes…I've bearcome a beary gloomy bear…"

"Yeah, Yeah! Cut the crap…" Yosuke said dismissively

"DID YOU JUST CALL MY FEELINGS CRAP?!" Teddie yelled with anger.

"I'm just a stupid bear who doesn't know where he came from…" Teddie cried and started rolling around on the ground.

"Stay still!" Kanji said.

"I live in oblivion and no one comes to visit me…" Teddie continued sadly.

"Listen, Teddie, We need…" Yu said.

"I got so lonely that I wanted to cry I even tried…but nothing came out!" Teddie said stopping his rolling around and lying on his stomach. "When I'm alone I start to think and that just makes me lonelier…"

"We'd never forget about you, Teddie," Chie said tenderly.

"Sometimes we even think about you…" Yukiko said.

"Does that mean I can still score with you?" Teddie asked his disposition changing very quickly.

"Nice recovery!" Chie chuckled

"Can't we just make that subject off limits for good?" Yukiko pleaded with a depressed tone.

"Hey Narukami, I gotta asked what's with the backpack?" Yosuke asking pointing to the backpack which Yu had brought with him.

"Yeah I was kinda wondering that too." Chie admitted, Yukiko agreeing with her.

"It's a change of clothes." Yu replied with a shrug.

"Dude what do you need clothes for in here?" Yosuke asked.

"Well what happens if what I'm wearing gets torn or dirty?" Yu replied answering a question with a question. "I can't go out looking like I haven't washed in days."

"Eh, good point." Chie said accepting the answer.

"Oh come your just gonna accept that?!" Yosuke cried.

"Yup." "Yes" Uh huh." The rest of the team answered.

"Ah whatever." Yosuke grumbled.

"Teddie… we're looking for Rise Kujikawa have you seen her?" Yu asked dangling the charm from Rise's cellphone that he had gotten from Rise's grandmother, earlier that morning.

"Rise Kujikawa?" Teddie asked in confusion

Teddie sniffed it and then led them down a yet another path that they hadn't been on before. He led them to a building that looked similar to a night club. It had a neon sign that said 'Marukyu Striptease.'

"Rise's in here?" Yu asked.

"I smell her loud and clear…" Teddie declared.

"Say…isn't this one of those places you find near some inn in some washed-up tourist town…?" Yosuke asked.

"NO! Not by MY family's Inn." Yukiko yelled appalled.

There were triangular folding signs that advertised various other girls. However, one poster in particular caught Yu's eye, it was in a frame and had lights surrounding it, on the poster it read _**"Special Guest…Rise Kujikawa!"**_

"Damn it" Kanji complained trying to squint in the fog. "I can barely see."

"Oh yeah right you never did get a pair of glasses for this place did you Kanji?" Chie noted.

"My bad" Teddie said apologetically "I totally forgot plus it wasn't foggy when you came over, here for you"

Teddie handed Kanji a pair of glasses which he put. They allowed him to see however, they were in fact a pair of gag glasses that the bear had made when he was bored.

"Bear" Kanji growled "Why the hell did I get these?"

"What's wrong you don't like them?" Teddie asked retreating behind Yu.

"HELL NO I DON'T LIKE THEM" Kanji yelled angrily causing the bear to flinch and look for another pair.

Yu thought carefully before nodding to himself and power walking through the entrance alone.

"Hey wait up Sensei" Teddie yelled following Yu.

The others all nodded at each other and ran to catch up.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

When they into the striptease, the first thing the team saw when entering was that Yu was no there. Instead they saw a familiar heroic figure stuffing clothes into a familiar looking backpack.

"Hey it's that Samurai guy from the news." Chie exclaimed "But where did Narukami go?"

"Excuse Mr Samurai where did our friend go?" Yukiko asked the superhero who finished stuffing the backpack and hefted into onto his back.

"I'm afraid your leader needed to take breather, but never fear as your neighbourhood superhero I volunteered to lead you to victory here!" The samurai declared making his Y pose.

"Narukami give it up man you're embarrassing yourself." Yosuke stated with a sigh.

"Jeez Yosuke why are you such a buzzkill?" Chie sighed giving him an irritated look.

"Yeah Yosuke we already know its him he's just trying to lighten things up." Yukiko said.

"Yeah don't get us wrong senpai it's awesome that he actually that hero guy but there's no need to be such a downer." Kanji said agreeing with the girls.

"What?! Aw come on!" Yosuke cried before turning to Diarmuid for support. "Come on Diarmuid be honest you agree that this is ridiculous right?"

Diarmuid could only shrug apologetically, as much as he wished to agree his lord had asked for honesty and honestly he believed that despite its ridiculousness their leader was trying to keep things light-hearted in a serious situation. Realising that he was out numbered Yosuke simply hung his head and gave up.

" _Well no one can accuse this lot of being boring can they?_ " Drake said to Li Shuwen with a snicker.

" _Indeed not._ " The Assassin grinned.

"Come let us find our missing idol!" The Samurai declared materialising Galatine in his hand and marching forth deeper into the shadow infested dungeon.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

As they ventured deeper in the group made good time thanks to Chie's martial arts and Yukiko's crack shooting, with his Axe-Sword Kanji demolished any shadows that tried sneaking up on them. With every floor that they went through the shadows got stronger and tried harder to stop them. Eventually they came to the sixth floor and Shadow Rise's voice echoed around them.

"You came" Shadow Rise giggled "But still, I'm a little embarrassed…So I'm gonna turn out the lights!"

"Whoa! It's so dark in here!" Teddie said "This is dangerous! We should be careful going onward, Sensei!"

"Hello every-wait! What the….who are you?!" Shadow Rise's voice demanded.

Suddenly a loud sound came from ahead, the sound of metal against what was unmistakably flesh and then came a loud crash and a metallic clang, then the lights came back on.

When the lights came back on the team ran ahead to find a room with a dying serpent shaped shadow which quickly vanished as it died. Looking up they saw the curtain at the far end of the room which lead to the hallway with the stairs had been slashed open and the doorway around it completely destroyed.

"What the hell happened in here?" Chie asked examining the damage.

"Something beat us to the shadow and smashed forced the way forward open." Kanji pointed out.

"This shadow beary strong." Teddie said "Whatever did this must be beary powerful."

"This room seems like a set up to those mid-boss shadows that we've been forced to fight in other dungeons." The Samurai stated "So whatever Shadow Rise was talking to destroyed it for us."

"Yeah but why?" Yosuke asked. "Could it have been the killer?"

"That doesn't make any sense, he'd want to hinder us not help us." Yukiko stated disagreeing with Yosuke.

" _Whatever did this had an enormous presence._ " Li Shuwen stated causing everyone to look at him. " _For a moment in the darkness when we heard those sounds I felt a presence so enormous that it couldn't have been human, it was far too powerful but it vanished when the lights came back. We should avoid fighting it, even if you summoned us, without the ability to use our Noble Phantasms to their full measure we wouldn't last very long._ "

This caused the team to gulp nervously.

"Let's get going, I don't want to be here if whatever did this decides to come back." Yukiko said.

"Agreed, onwards." Space Samurai Y ordered.

The team was now moving a bit faster than before.

When the team were about halfway down the hall, a pair of large metallic claws gripped the edge of the destroyed door way, a pair of feminine eyes peered after the masked team member.

"Senpai." She whispered before her claws reduced their size to that of regular hands and she concealed her presence again, ready to resume stalking her target.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Eventually the team reached the final level of the strip tease, only having to stop for a breather a couple of times.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Shadow Rise announced. "Let me guide you to the sparkling world of wonder!"

A spotlight came on and some introduction music started playing. The centre stage rose and there were six girls who all looked alike.

"That's a lot of Risettes" Chie commented.

Just as Chie said there were six Risettes in all. One was dressed with a bonnet and had a dress with an old styled blouse jacket and thigh high stockings and shoes. Another that had a tuxedo jacket with a blouse, a skirt, and black stockings. Another Risette was kneeing a soccer ball while wearing a green soccer outfit and white high socks. The fourth was a cheerleader with a belly baring blouse and the skirt's waist band was in a V-cut, with high socks and was waving gold-pom-poms. The Fifth was in a grey business suit with slacks and wore glasses. While the sixth was in an Orange Kimono with a Square pattern and had a black obi to it. However, unlike the other five who had pigtails, this one had her hair done in a ponytail. However, all six of them had glowing yellow eyes.

"Yeah! And I know them all! "Yosuke exclaimed getting worked up. "The first one is from her third photo shoot. The one in the soccer outfits from her second… The Cheerleader…"

"All right… This show is called Risette's Dynamite Body. Are. You. All. READY?!" Shadow Rise asked winking.

Suddenly the platform she was on rose from the ground elevating her so she was the centre of attention.

"I AM!" Yosuke cheered a little too excitedly "RISETTE!"

"Ohhh…SHUT UP!" Chie snapped giving Yosuke a kick to the back out of annoyance knocking him to the ground.

"Today, I'm here to bare everything to you all" Shadow Rise declared. "What? Do you think that's a FIBBY-WIBBY?!" She held her hand to her ear as if the group had actually spoken.

The Masked man stared at Rise's Shadow along with the others, although he was actually trying to think about what to do, while the others were simply stunned.

"Well, You'll just have to figure out if I'm telling the lie or telling the truth…You're about to meet…" Then she held her index finger up… "The. Real. ME."

Exotic music began playing and the six other Risette's started clapping in time to the music as Shadow Rise had walked up to a stripper pole and started spinning around by walking, then again when she jumped up with her feet bunched up to the backs of her legs.

"I hope mine wasn't like this…Man this is brutal," Kanji sweat dropped.

"What you're seeing are Rise's true inner feelings, of course they're brutal!" Teddie stated.

The Hero thought back to what Rise had said at Samegawa. _"The girl everybody makes a big fuss over…isn't the real me."_

Rise's Shadow began suggestively rubbing her thigh against the pole and did so for a few seconds before the music stopped abruptly as she got no audible reaction.

"HMPH! Talk about a dead crowd." She snorted **"** Well then, maybe it's about time I brought out our SPECIAL GUEST!"

"What guest?" Yosuke grunted as he got back up.

**"** Today's Special Guest is…"Shadow Rise paused for dramatic effect.

**"** Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do" The Shadow Risettes began imitating a rapidly beating drum.

"Rise Kujikawa!" Shadow Rise said gesturing to the girl question, who was kneeling on stage.

Rise was still dressed in her work clothes for the tofu shop. The apron and scarf over her head were still on.

"Stop it! That's enough!" Rise said to her Shadow.

"Rise!" The Masked Hero called to her before some Shadows came down which were dressed like detectives with trench coats and hats, like something out of an old movie.

"They're here! Grizzlies!" Teddie said running for cover.

**"** Everybody listen up! Remember to mind your manners and keep your hands off the dancers at all times." Shadow Rise said as the fuzz shadows pulled out revolvers and started firing bullets which were far more powerful than bullets from ordinary revolvers had any right to be. This everyone to scatter behind some seats that were there much like a club or restaurant.

"Where's my glasses?! Shit! Where the Hell did they go! I can't see without those things!" Kanji said as he crawled around on the ground looking for his glasses.

"Include!" The masked hero summoned Galatine by including Gawain, the team minus Kanji who was still looking for his glasses Included theirs as well.

"Let's do this quick!" Space Samurai Y ordered leaping out of cover along with the others.

Yukiko made quick headshots with her pistols, Chie started attacking the Fuzz Shadows crushing them with fists and kicks, while Yosuke and the Samurai quickly tore apart the ones foolish enough to get close. However as soon as the first wave was destroyed more descended from the ceiling to replace them, in greater numbers this time.

"They keep coming!" Chie cried, using Sphere Boundary to sneak up on the shadows and catch them from behind.

"This" Yukiko ducked under a shot and fired back at the shadows "Is" again "getting really" a mall volley of shots forced her into cover again "ANNOYING!" several squares opened up in the space above her and ship cannons emerged from them and fired decimating the shadows that were shooting at her.

"NO! This isn't real!" Rise said on stage.

"Easy for her to say." Yosuke grumbled ducking her a fuzz shadow which swiped at him before shoving Gae Dearg into its face.

Shadow Rise was using the pole again, pressing her chest and wrapping a leg around it **.** "Oh, but it is. You wanted people to notice you." Then Shadow Rise wrapped herself around the pole and spun and rubbed her thigh suggestively against it. **"** Looky! Looky! Everyone come and look at me!"

"Stop it, you're wrong! I'm nothing like that!" Rise insisted starting to become hysterical.

"You don't think so, huh? Then just who is the real you?" Shadow Rise demanded irritated at her counterpart.

The other six Risettes gathered in a circle and towered over Rise, all of them giggling mockingly **.**

"Well go on!" Shadow Rise said. "Tell us who the real you is!"

"The Real Me… is just…" Rise began, but couldn't finish as even she didn't know the answer.

"Damn it! Where are those things!" Kanji growled in frustration at being unable to see through the fog.

"Are these what you're looking for?" Teddie smugly said holding a spare pair of Kanji glasses which were regular ones instead of gag ones.

"I can rock these." Kanji grinned taking them and putting them on.

"You're all goin' down. PERSONA!" Kanji said, as the shadows began advancing on him.

He summoned Hercules, the mad demi-god roared in challenge to the shadows and began charging at them using his axe-sword to demolish all opposition.

"Sorry for the wait!" Kanji said, folding his arms as Yu, Yosuke, Chie and Yukiko turned over to him.

Kanji smirked even as more Fuzz shadows dropped from the sky.

"C'mon," He said taunting them angrily and uncrossing his arms "C'mon! C'mon! C'MON!"

"Wow! He's awesome!" Yosuke said as Hercules continued destroying any shadows who came at him, tearing them to pieces with single blows pf his fists or axe-sword.

"He's a bulldozer!" Chie grinned.

"So you still haven't said who the real Rise is…" Shadow Rise said approaching Rise on the stage.

"I'm the Real Rise!" The Risette with the bonnet said with an echoing voice.

"I'm the Real Rise!" The Soccer-playing Risette said also with an echoing voice.

"I'm the Real Rise!" The Kimono-wearing Risette echoed the others.

"I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW WHO THE REAL ME IS!" Rise cried as their voices echoed in her mind.

"I'll tell you. I'M the real RISE! You see, I am YOU and YOU are ME."

"You're wrong! You're not me!" Rise said.

"I'm sick and tired of putting on a fake smile an always having to play the flirt," Rise's Shadow taunted.

Rise started to sob, she was close to her breaking point.

"Watch closely now…" Shadow Rise said starting to untie the bikini top's straps. "And you'll see the true ME!"

"That's not true, you can't be…" Rise denied.

"STOP! DON'T SAY IT!" Chie shouted.

Space Samurai Y remained silent, choosing to instead watch.

"You are NOT ME!" Rise denied her shadow again in anger.

Purple energy surrounded Shadow Rise as the transformation began. "And now….HERE IT COOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEESSSSSSSS!"

The Black and Purple smoke which had formed around the Shadow swirled for a few seconds before it cleared, her appearance had changed. In her place was giant fox with nine tails that seemed to move independently of one another.

"I am a Shadow…of your True Inner Self!" The Shadow proclaimed.

The shadow had glowing red fur which seemed to shine like fresh blood.

"What…is this?" Rise asked, looking at her Shadow.

"RISE!" The team called her name as they approached the stage.

"Samurai! It's…you…" Rise said as she fainted.

"Chie! Yukiko! Guard Rise!" The Samurai ordered the two.

"Got it!".

"Right!"

"Yosuke, Kanji let's go!" The Samurai summoned Gawain, Yosuke followed suit with Diarmuid.

A green field exuded from the eyes of Rise's Shadow and blanketed the Personas allowing the shadow to see what her scan was telling her.

_**Gawain: Class: Saber, Fool Arcana. Great at close range. Will be 5 cm to the right in 1 second. Strength quite strong.** _

_**Diarmuid Ua Dubhine: Class: Lancer, Magician Arcana. Great at close range. Will try to flank me in 2 seconds. Strength is so-so.** _

_**Hercules: Class: Berserker, Emperor Arcana. Great with Physical Attacks. Will charge head on. Strength…He's Extremely Strong!** _

**"** I see you!" She said before despite her size weaving around their attacks like they were nothing, before blasting them away with a large ball of magical energy from mouth which sent them all flying away, crashing into the wall near the entrance.

"What?!" Yosuke exclaimed with disbelief.

"Teddie guard Rise!" Chie ordered urgently, having Li Shuwen put Rise down on the chair next to the bear.

"Okeydokey!" Teddie waved as Francis Drake and Li Shuwen went at Shadow Rise.

_**Li Shuwen: Class: Assassin, Chariot Arcana. Great with Physical Attacks, Strength is Decent.** _

_**Francis Drake: Class: Rider, Priestess Arcana. Great ranged attacks. Weak at close range. Strength is not bad.** _

_**Both will flank at roughly the same time.** _

"You're so transparent!" Shadow Rise giggled as she blocked a bombardment from Francis Drake and used one of her tails to smash Li Shuwen away causing him to become visible again.

"How did she do that?!" Chie cursed seeing her persona be detected and smashed away.

"Wait…that light?" Yosuke pointed out.

"It's scanning our Personas and see's our attacks." The Masked Hero observed grimly.

"Analysis Complete!" Shadow Rise stated.

"Change of plan people, Include now!" The team set to work on their leader's orders, dematerialised their Persona's and Including them. The Samurai had Galatine in hand. The rest of the team followed suit, Yosuke had Diarmuids spears, Chie had Li Shuwens fighting abilities, Yukiko had Francis Drake's pistols and Kanji was wielding Hercules Axe Sword.

The giant fox smirked and wiggled its tail in a 'come hither' like gesture.

"I've had enough of her smirking." Yosuke growled taking the bait and charging directly at the fox "I'm gonna turn you into fox skin rug!"

"Wanna bet?" the shadow asked still smug.

"It's a trap you idiot!" Chie yelled at Yosuke with a growl.

Yosuke however ignored her and leapt the Shadow's face intent on spearing its eye's. Only to be snatched from the air suddenly by one of the fox's giant tails.

"Should've listened to her moron." The shadow gloated tightening its grip on Yosuke.

"Surprise Bitch!" The shadow was surprised when it receiving an axe-sword to the jaw knocking it off balance and forcing it to drop Yosuke.

"Come on, you really thought I was stupid enough to just charge ya without a plan?" Yosuke asked with a smirk "I gestured to Kanji quietly to follow my lead; I figured if you had your attention me you would be able to block him. Our leaders not the only one who can come up with plans of attack."

"That was a sneaky sho-AAARRRGGGHHH!" the shadow bellowed with pain as Yosuke stabbed its foot with Gae Dearg.

Angered, Shadow Rise swiped Yosuke at Kanji knocking them into one another and sending them away.

"Alright so who's next?" The shadow asked. "Hey where'd the masked one go?" The shadow demanded, Chie and Yukiko looked and saw that their leader had indeed vanished.

"Samurai this really isn't the time for hide and seek." Chie yelled hoping her leader would come out.

"Include: Atalanta" The Masked Man's voice yelled from somewhere above.

"Alright what do you think you're doing….Aha!" The shadow swiped an arrow from the air that was shot from the shadows above "Nice try but-YEOWCH!" The fox was cut off as a second arrow shot mere seconds after the first struck the fox in the chest from another angle.

"Oh-I get it!" Yukiko exclaimed in realisation.

"What do you get?" Chie asked not following.

"It's simple, he fire's an arrow from the shadows to get her attention" Yukiko explained to her friend "And while she's focused on that he quickly moves to fire an arrow from an angle in a blind spot she then exposes to him."

"So she can block or dodge attacks she see's coming but not the one's she can't." Chie stated catching on taping her palm with her fist.

The game of cat and mouse continued for a few seconds, Yu landed several arrows into the fox, four into the chest, two on the front right leg, and three in the front left leg. Sadly, they weren't doing enough individual damage. However sooner or later the pin pricks would start adding up.

"Alright, I've had enough." The shadow roared blocking another arrow and ignoring the sneak shot which bounced off a bony part of the limb it struck. "What are you gonna do about this?!"

The fox opened its mouth and sent a medium sized ball of destructive power at her other self who was with Teddie. Left with no choice but defend his friends, the hero sent an arrow flying which met the orb mid-flight and destroyed it cancelling both attacks out.

"There you are!" The fox let out another orb at Space Samurai Y's position, he was not quick enough to move and the attack destroyed the beam on which he was perched sending him falling to the ground.

However instead of impacting on it the several of the fox's tails erupted from the walls apparently coiled around the supports within, each one grabbed a limb until Yu was left dangling in front of the fox mere inches' from the ground, completely at its mercy.

"Oh no Sensei!" "Yu!" "Narukami!" "Senpai!" His friends all let out yells of concern upon seeing his predicament.

Suddenly small orb flew out of the fox's mouth but it did not strike Yu who was helpless instead it flew and hit just short of Teddie and Rise sending the bear flying away. "Oops, sorry about that!" The shadow said with a giggle "I was aiming for both of them."

"TEDDIE!" the team called out in horror, Teddie was not moving even as his name was called.

'Damn it, this thing is too strong, at this rate….' The Samurai thought back on the previous battles with the shadows and was struck with an idea, calling upon Nero's Charisma he looked at Rise.

"Rise!" the girl looked at the masked hero and gasped and as he moved his head to his free hand and used it to pull the mask off revealing…

"It's you, Narukami! You're the Samurai?" Rise gasped as he shook the wig off his head and allowed the mask to clatter onto the floor with it.

"Listen, it's ok if you don't know who the real you is." Yu said pulling all of Nero's charisma which was a fairly decent rank thanks to her Imperial Privilege skill. "If you asked other people that question, they wouldn't to give a proper answer either. Who are we? Why are we here? What's the Point? Where are we going? These are the questions that people spend their whole lives trying to answer. Don't feel pressured about not knowing the answers lots of adults don't have those answers either, I can't promise you'll find an answer but trying putting your faith in us and let us be your friends, you may not find the answer but with us at your back you'll be a hell of a lot closer to one than you ever could get alone!"

Thoughts whirled inside Rise's mind. Ever since she started her career, the people she thought of as friends were always after something, when she dared to let some new person close they became snobby and stuck up acting superior and even ruining the lives of people who even looked at them wrong. When she found out she was quick to drop them publicly, and became reluctant to put her faith in anyone who wanted to be her friend, but something deep inside told her she could trust the boy in front of her. With this Rise found her strength and stood up fixing her Shadow with a hard stare.

"When I started my career, people wanted to use me to become famous, they abused it and made others, miserable, it became hard to trust people so I tried to isolate myself but being alone I lost sight of myself, I may not know who the real me is but I feel like I can trust Narukami, so I'll put myself out there just once more and try to find the real me!"

The shadow suddenly let out a cry of rage and pain, static flowing over its body, as it weakened.

Yu felt himself getting free of the screaming Shadow , whose tails started to whip around and crack the ground, making Rise scream his name in worry again as he did his best to roll out of the way and closer to her...

' _It's time._ ' echoed a familiar voice on the boy's mind, even as his gaze shot towards the raging nine-tailed fox.

"Wha...?" started to say the boy before feeling a splitting headache overcome his mind, almost making him scream.

He saw a knight fighting against another one, a scene he had already seen in his dreams...

' _Let yourself..._ '

He saw the Velvet Room, Igor's eternal smile widening as he stared straight towards him...

' _...become the Hero..._ '

And finally, he saw a shining card being snatched out of the air, being brought down instead of shattered...

' _...and take another step on your destiny, my dear guest._ '

Yu Narukami stood up. Somehow, somewhat, he knew what he had to do.

"Naru...kami...?" muttered Rise from where she still stood, staring straight at the boy's back.

"Don't worry, Rise...I will help you." muttered the leader of the Investigation Team as he adjusted his glasses before raising a closed fist. "Because that's what a Hero does. GAWAIN!"

" _I'm here, my king._ " answered the Persona as he appeared behind his Master in Spirit Form, somehow feeling a new light shining brightly in him.

Without a word, the burning card of 'SABER' appeared in front of Yu.

This time, however, he did not crush it with the sound of breaking glass, neither did he grab it to let it turn into his partner's weapon, no.

He snatched it out of the air and slammed it against his chest, even as a Magic Circle formed under him, raw power unlike anything before erupting from it as everyone in the room stared at him in shock.

"INSTALL!"

A burst of pure Prana engulfed the boy's form, blinding everyone for an instant before he stepped forward, Yukiko and Chie gasping in shock as Kanji and Yosuke let their jaws fall open in disbelief.

Their leader now stood there, his 'Hero Costume' gone and now clad in a VERY blue and grey under suit, with an equally familiar white-silver armour over it. On his right hand, the metal gauntlet tightly closed over the guard, Galatine shone silently under the fading light of the magic circle. His glasses were gone, but his eyes had turned the same aquamarine shade of his first loyal companion, as unimpeded by the fog of that world as he always was.

From her place behind him, Rise stared with absolute awe, unable to even utter a word at the sheer presence that the boy now projected, feeling her cheeks heating up slightly at his new and imposing form.

Finally, he spoke, his gaze zeroing over the shocked Shadow.

"This ends now, demon." Yu's voice announced even as Gawain's own echoed his, the silver-haired boy feeling a power unlike anything he had ever felt coursing through him. "You shall not harm my friends any further."

"Rrrraaaghhhh! DIE!" The shadow screamed sending another ball of energy at the boy.

This time however Yu didn't move, instead raising Galatine and holding his ground.

"Narukami!" "Get outta the way dude!" his friends cried as the orb approached.

A small aura of prana surrounded the sword, and the orb impacted kicking up large dust cloud.

"So much for him….What!?" The shadow gloated before being stunned at what it saw when the dust cleared. Everyone stood in disbelief, as when the dust cleared Yu remained not only standing but unmoved, having caught the orb on his blade.

"Here, this is yours!" Yu cried pulling back and batting into the orb, sending it back where it came from.

The orb screamed through the air flying with far more force than it originally had possessed and when it hit the shadow in her face a loud crash and some cracking of bone was heard, over the screaming of the shadow in pain.

"DIE DIE DIE!" The shadow began thrashing about lashing out with its nine tails blindly, the orb had damaged its sight.

One the tails approached the Narukami boy from the side, when it came close he raised his sword and caught the tail on it. He twisted the sword around entangling the tail on it.

"There you are!" The shadow sent three more tails at him, but they met the same fate as the first and were entangled on the sword. "Come here!"

With a roar of anger, the Shadow pulled with her tails, dragging the transformed teenager towards herself, intent of unleashing an orb of destruction at point blank range.

She didn't know it would have been useless. Even the small display with the sword from before had been just to trick it into believing her attacks could still damage him, for now her magic would barely make him buckle. Such was the power of having a B-Ranked Magic Resistance.

"…that was your last mistake." He said calmly.

Suddenly, without any apparent effort whatsoever, Yu swung his sword-arm, the Shadow realizing its terrible mistake when her tails were cut off with the holy edge of Galatine with no effort.

Unforgiving aquamarine eyes met golden ones as the holy sword was impaled into its foxy head, the momentum she herself had given the transformed Hero being her own downfall.

Absolute silence filled the area for a few seconds before, in a burst of darkness, the abomination collapsed back into the bikini-clad copy of Rise Kujikawa.

A now flat and conscious Teddie approached the team, having recovered from the blast. Hi suit was burnt and marked but he didn't seem to too badly injured.

"Teddie!" The team called his name. "You're alive."

"Sorry for worrying you all, but I'm still here." Teddie said before looking at Rise. "I know how you feel…and how bad it hurts…when you don't know for sure…who you really are. It's hard. But you don't have to worry about it alone. You and me… We can figure it out together."

"You and me?" Rise asked.

"Yeah, and we have Sensei and the others too."

Rise looked at the team who were smiling.

"I'm sorry to put you all through this…" she said apologetically.

"Look, just take it easy for now," Yu said with a kind smile.

"It's been a long time, since someone said that to me." Rise smiled before getting up and approaching her Shadow.

"I'm so sorry." She said kneeling down next to her Shadow. "Look, I've fought so hard to try to figure out who the real me truly is… But I realized…no amount of searching is going to help…because there was no real me to find."

"Does that mean that there's no real me, either?" Teddie asked himself aloud.

"But I realized that Risette, You, everyone you're all a part of me."

The Shadow blinked, and then was bathed in blue light. It rose into the air before and burst into a wave of blue flames that surrounded Rise, making the girl grunted in pain as she felt something connecting itself to her soul.

A summoning circle formed itself around her and from it a new form rose. Standing before Rise a girl wearing an old style kimono coloured blue; it had loose arm sleeves that were draped over most of her arms, leaving her shoulders bare. She wore Black shoes that served to increase her height ever so slightly, with indigo stockings over her legs. The most noticeable thing about her however was the pair of orange ears peeking out through a mass of pink hair and a fox tail poking from the rear of clothing, an ornate, old fashioned golden mirror orbited her like a moon.

"Hello master! I am Tamamo no Mae." The Caster introduced herself energetically "In class of Caster under the Lovers Arcana I am your Persona!" The fox eared woman then turned into a Tarot Card.

The card had the image of a person wearing hooded robes, with a staff in their left hand and a tome under the right arm. The roman numeral VI was present next to the word CASTER. It hovered for a moment before turning into a gentle blue light which became part of Rise.

"Persona?" Rise said before she collapsed.

"Rise!" Yu said before he caught her and gently helped her to the ground.

"Dude! No fair!" Yosuke complained

"She just completely passed out," Yu said as he returned to his hero uniform as the Install ended.

"Who could blame her after all that?" Chie sighed.

"So what was that thing you did?" Yukiko asked

"Oh yeah it looked really cool." Yosuke said.

"Install." Yu said recalling the word. "It's the next step, its more than Include, I got more than Gawain's sword, but I got his skills, his powers, his abilities with a sword and I felt way more powerful, like there was hardly any distinction between him and me."

"So another way to kick sounds good to me." Kanji said.

"There is no 'real me'!" a dark deep voice echoed, causing everyone to turn around and saw a crimson air exude from Teddie, who was still flat yet was somehow standing up.

"No 'True Self'!" The dark voice continued.

"Huh?! Who said that?!" Teddie said, and then he turned around and saw a larger version of Teddie that had yellow, human-shaped eyes. "What the HECK IS THAT?!"

"Oh balls!" Kanji cursed.

"No way!"

"Aw man." Yosuke grumbled.

"Is that Teddie's other self?" Chie asked.

_'Wait, there's something strange about it'_ Yu thought, feeling a strange vibe come from the shadow.

' _Indeed something is not right here'_ Medea warned ' _Be careful there is more at work here than just a shadow._ '

'Sh _e is correct be on guard_ ' Medusa warned.

"SUCH IDIOTIC FOOLISHNESS!" Teddie's shadow grinned and expelled a fog from himself that blanketed the room.

"The truth shall always be shrouded in fog!"

Then a large clawed hand pushed some fog out of the way.

There was now a pit where the Shadow Teddie resided. One eye was now pink and green as there was a large hole on the left side of its head but there was no blood or even signs of anything besides a black void.

"I am a Shadow of your True Inner Self. Try though you may to find meaning…You will never know for sure if it is the truth…or a lie."

Then a vacuum began sucking everything into the large void. Shadow Teddie was taking care not to choke the air from then, however he was sucking in everything else. The team held on to nearby large debris that had implanted it's into the ground for dear life.

"He's gonna suck us in!" Chie yelled.

"So knowing that…why even bother seeking the truth at all?" Shadow Teddie asked.

"AHHHHH!" Teddie was pulled in to his Shadow vanishing into the darkness.

"TEDDIE!" Yosuke cried as the bear vanished inside the shadow.

"How can you possibly find something when you don't even know what you're looking for? The truth you seek will only bring you suffering."

"Why do you say that?!" Yu replied.

"Let me impart one bit of truth upon you…YOU ARE ALL GOING TO DIE HERE!" Shadow Teddie said ignoring Yu as he suddenly stopped sucking things into himself.

"Why did he stop?" Chie asked nervously.

" _I get the impression we are about to find out_." Diarmuid commented.

Suddenly out of the crack in the shadows face a thick black mud like substances began leaking. It came fell out slowly at first but got faster as it overflowed and began spilling out onto the floor.

"What the hell is this crap?" Kanji yelled nervously as the black ichor began approaching them, burning some flammable pieces of the room as it advanced.

" _Master summon me please!"_ a voice begged Rise from within her.

"Persona" her Arcana shattered and Tamamo no Mae appeared, holding the mirror and that had been previously orbiting her when she first appeared.

"Get away from that substance" she yelled "It's pure concentrated evil, like a curse, there's no telling what might happen if it touches you."

Yukiko ran and tried to exit but the curtain that served as a door was solid as rock. She even had Francis Drake try to blow it open with cannon shots but to no avail.

"The doors sealed shut, we're trapped." the inn keeper in training yelled.

"What are we gonna do?" Chie began panicking.

"We have to get higher" Yu replied "Gawain!"

"Right" The Persona answered his master's summoning and materialised.

With nary a thought the Knight grabbed his summoner who in turn grabbed Rise and held her tightly as the Persona leapt up as high as could perching near the top of the one of the steel beams around the room, Tamamo was quick to join her master. The other's quickly followed suit having their persona's materialise and each clinging as high as they could to avoid the black substance below that seemed to devour the floor below them, it didn't take long for it to reach the rear wall and soon it had nowhere to go but up. Francis Drake and Li Shuwen perched on the same steel beam. Diarmuid implanted both his spears into the wall high up and grabbed Yosuke as leapt balancing upon them.

"Ah man, now what are we gonna do?" Yosuke panicked "We can't stay up here forever."

"What's going on?" Yu asked Rise's Persona "Teddie never rejected his shadow so why did it go berserk like this?"

The fox eared Persona stared into her mirror for a few seconds before answering.

"It looks like something interfered before he got the chance." the caster replied "I don't know what it is but it's powerful and this mud seems to be some sort of extension of Teddie's shadow."

" It cut us off." Yu realised.

"Whaddya mean?" Yosuke questioned

"Think about it, in all our previous fights with shadows we've managed to encourage our friends with our words and weaken the shadow. Whatever's behind this cut us off from Teddie so can't weaken the shadow like we normally do."

"Gah, sneaky bastard" Kanji growled

"So what are we gonna do about it?" Yukiko asked the boy.

"Kanji come over here and take Rise." Yu ordered.

"Sure, Hercules let's go" Kanji's Persona roared and after hefting its master onto its shoulder began punching holes in the ceiling as it made its way over to Yu.

"Sempai what are you doing?" Rise asked she was handed over to Hercules.

"I'm going in." Yu answered simply narrowing his eyes as Teddie's shadow which simply stared back at him coldly.

"What the hell?"

"Are you crazy?"

"You won't survive in there you could die"

"Maybe, but I have to try." Yu replied ignoring his friend's objections "I can't leave Teddie to face this alone. Besides, this is my fault. Gawain let's go."

" Very well" Yu placed both of his arms around Gawain's neck freeing up the knight's arm.

Gawain summoned Galatine and with all the force he could muster slashed at the beam, causing it to topple into the rapidly rising black mud. He dashed across with all the speed he could muster and leapt form it to other debris, closing in on the shadow.

"BEGONE!" Teddie' Shadow swiped one of its claws into the mud creating a large wave. Gawain was unfazed and skilfully leapt over it and landed on the shadows large head.

"Are you sure about this my king?" Gawain asked his sovereign "I don't know what help I'll be inside this creature!"

"You've done more than enough I'll take it from here" Yu replied dismissing his Persona "Hang on Teddie, I'm coming."

With that Yu clambered down towards the large hole which still had the black mud pouring out of it. He took a deep breath and leapt into the hole diving into the mud.

"He went in" Chie cried

"Is he ok?"

"He's alive, I can tell that much." Tamamo replied staring into her mirror "Whatever this other force is, it's placed something inside the shadow to make it go Berserker, and whatever it is, it's block me form seeing any further."

"Please, come back Narukami" Yosuke prayed

The remaining Persona users could watch and pray as the mud below them continued to rise.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Yu was surrounded by darkness and felt a heavy weight on his entire body, but kept swimming regardless. He had to reach Teddie, it didn't matter what this mud was. It wouldn't stop him from saving his friend nothing would.

"Oh? nothing will stop you will it?" a familiar voice questioned

As Yu continued swimming he saw Nanako appear in his vision which a malicious smile on her face...no this was not Nanako.

'What are you?' Yu questioned in his thoughts as he stared at the copy of Nanako.

"I am the truth that resides inside of your 'Teddie'" the Nanako look alike said "I am All The World's Evil, I am Angra Mainyu and I am also Teddie. Knowing this are you still sure you won't turn back and abandon him?"

'What do you mean?' Yu asked as he decided to keep swimming.

Nanako kept up with him, staying in front of his vision as he kept clawing through the mud which seemed to burn him all over, but he ignored the pain and kept pushing on.

"Even if you are by some miracle able to save Teddie what then?" Angra Mainyu asked "My true form is Evil itself so will you truly accept him as a friend knowing that his true inner self is All the Worlds Evil?"

'Yes' Yu replied simply his reply causing the mud to flinch as if in surprise

"What?!" Angra Mainyu seemed to be shocked "Don't be absurd, your Teddie is evil incarnate. Why would you want such a repulsive creature by your side knowing that it was overflowing with evil?"

'If Teddie's true inner self is All Good in the World then I can accept that, and if his true self is All Evil in the World then I can accept that too.' Yu answered 'To be perfectly honest, I don't care what his true self is. I will fulfil my promise to him and more importantly than that he's my friend and nothing you say or do can change my mind.'

Again the mud flinched and seemed retreated away from Yu.

"You would put everything you know and love in danger of being destroyed by All The Worlds Evil just because you want to believe in your empty friend? What kind of choice is that?!" Angra Mainyu demanded.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Teddie was inside his Shadow and was very confused. He was surrounded by the fog but for some reason he couldn't see through it like usual and he was standing on a strange black mud substance.

"Huh?! What is this place?" he asked unable to see a thing

He kept looking around, when he looked behind him he saw his Shadow who was also there with Teddie.

"AHHH! You're here too…"

"This is where you will fade to nothing!" Teddie's Shadow said.

Teddie started sinking into a black pool that he was able to walk on before.

"HMMM!" Teddie began panicking. "WHAAAAAAAA!" he cried as he was pulled in. "WHAT THE HECK IS THIS PLACE!"

"You were NOTHING to begin with!"

"NOTHING?!" Teddie yelled as he kept panicking.

"You have no memories of your past! The truth is you are all the Evil in the World" the shadow replied

"Evil...I'm not evil"

"You hold within you all the Evils in the world." Shadow Teddie stated "Deep down you know this and seek to disappear before you can inflict your evil upon anyone else. So you will become nothing."

"No...it can't be true...no..."

"...die!" a familiar voice called out to the bear who perked up a bit before allowing himself to continue sinking.

"I thought I heard Sensei's voice just now." Teddie sighed with sorrow "But that can't be. I'm empty and deep inside I have all the world evil. Why would he want to be near me?"

"TE...E!"

"Sensei?"

The blackened mud began bubbling up near the bear; it began to rise as if trying desperately to keep something hidden. It was to no avail as Teddie recognised his Sensei clambering out of the mud.

"Sensei you're here"

"Teddie, come on, let's go" Yu said extending his hadn't to the bear "Everyone's waiting outside."

"I can't go Sensei" Teddie replied with a sad look "I'm nothing, and all I carry is evil inside."

"So what?" the bear looked up at his Sensei "That just means you're more like one of us!"

"One of you?"

"Human" Yu explained "All humans have the capacity for good and evil inside. Just because you know you have one doesn't mean you don't have the other in you somewhere. After all if you all evil you wouldn't have let us out when we first came here. Remember?"

"Yeah, I do remember. When we first met..." Teddie trailed off "But.."

"So then let's go and find your answers together. We'll find out who you are and I'll prove that there's more than just evil inside you. We'll do it together."

Tears fell from the bears eyes and he took Yu's hand, he was firmly pulled out of the mud.

"What an incomprehensible choice!" the shadow remarked.

"Include Gawain" Yu summoned Galatine into his hand which began to shine with the light of the sun. "Galatine guide us out of here."

With a tight grip on Teddie, Yu was pulled by the sword and plunged into the mud. They shot through it faster than Yu had come through it before. Within moments they could see light, as they got closer the holy sword cleaved a black orb like object in two as it shot both of its passengers out of the shadow.

The shadow let out a cry of pain as it crumbled and faded away taking the rising mud with it. The hole it had been in sealed up as well as it returned to its original form.

"Holy crap, he did it" Kanji cheered

"Awesome."

"He plunged through all that evil with sheer willpower?" Tamamo said with awe "That's incredible"

The rest of the team dropped the ground and dematerialised their Persona now that the danger had passed.

With wonder, Teddie looked up at the forming being, a mass of darkness in humanoid shape that stared at him for a moment before it 'pulsed' and became a young man of dark skin and golden eyes, his body filled with countless of strange black markings that seemed quite sinister to see. His chest was bare and he wore little clothing to speak of, the most prominent maybe being the red bandana around his head. On his hand, there were two strange and bizarre claw-like bladed weapons. Sword-breakers

There was nothing amazing about this thing...person. Unlike the other 'Heroes' that everyone in the Investigation Team had gotten, he did not have any glorious aura, commanding presence, terrifying power or anything at all. In fact, looking at him the teens were barely able to feel his existence as more than a human one.

But the bear-like creature to which with it was connected could feel IT.

The Pain. The Hate. The Emptiness. The Darkness. All of it and MORE, pulsating under that fake appearance that had long-since lost all its meaning.

Above all of it, though, he could feel how TIRED the spirit of the being was.

'He' had carried all that was Wrong with the World on himself for most of his life, and long after it should have ended. For no real reason, just because he happened to be chosen.

Under all that darkness, malice, EVIL...the stuffed bear-Shadow felt the long-forgotten image of a child asking 'WHY?'.

The nameless one in front of him never got an answer. But...maybe, just like he had just discovered about himself, he could give his existence a new meaning. Together, both of them.

"...I see there is no need to say anything." finally spoke the man with a voice that seemed like a distorted and darker version of Teddie's one, which honestly put all of the Investigation Team, sans Yu who had not mentioned the burning pain on chest, on edge. "Call me Angra Mainyu. I have no other name to speak about. As your Avenger and under your Star...let us see what this world has to offer, yeah?"

And with that and a hollow smile, he vanished into a card depicting a haunted-looking man chained down, with the english word of 'AVENGER' under it, which then proceeded to sink inside Teddie with the characteristic bluish glow.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

when they got to the exit Teddie laid down flat then he started to do sit-ups.

"At least until I grow all my fur back, I'm going to bury myself in training. Just you wait until I make my comeback. It's going to be amazing!" Teddie said. "It'll be a major event, and then you'll be begging for my help again!"

"See you later then Teddie" Yu waved goodbye to the bear.

The others all said their goodbye as they left the TV world. Before leaving Yu felt not one, but two souls connect to him from beyond through the bond with Teddie. He thought of it as odd but decided to check on it later. His attention refocused on the burning pain on his chest and his rapidly draining strength as he went through the exit.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The Team exited the TV at Junes, it was late into the afternoon and very few people were around.

"Man that was a serious trip." Yosuke groaned "I'm gonna sleep like a log tonight."

The others all mumbled in agreement but fell silent as they heard the sound of a body hitting the floor.

"Oh no." Rise cried causing everyone to look back and see Yu lying face up on the ground. "I think he's unconscious."

"Let's get this thing off him." Chie said kneeling down and undoing the front of the costume.

When it was opened up they all gasped at the horrible burns across his front and going around to the back.

"Holy shit, that looks major." Yosuke gulped "Second degree burns at least."

"He acted like it was nothing on the way back to the exit." Kanji said with Awe."

"Never mind that we need to call an ambulance." Yukiko exclaimed.

"Aw man what are we gonna tell 'em when ask how it happened?" Yosuke asked. "Junes could get shut down for something like this."

"Yosuke, this is more important than the stupid store." Chie yelled angrily at Yosuke's priorities.

"I know, I'm just say-GAH YEOWCH!" Yosuke was cut off when a small shadow jumped on his head and used it as a spring board to land on the floor, sending Yosuke onto his face.

"Is that a fox?" Chie asked

Indeed, before them was an orange furred fox with several scars on its right eye, forehead, back, and left leg. It was also wearing a red apron with a heart pattern. It approached and settled at Yu's side before withdrawing a leaf from behind the apron.

"What's it doing?" Rise asked as it suddenly put the leaf on the centre of Yu's chest were the burns were the worst.

A blue glow enveloped the injured boy and before their eyes the burns rapidly faded away leaving nothing but healthy skin. The fox gave out a low how and vanished darted away.

"That's incredible, was that leaf magic or something?" Rise asked seeing Yu's breathing become relaxed and steady.

"Hey Yukiko-senapi haven't you heard of that fox before?" Kanji asked looked to her for confirmation.

"Oh yeah, that's the fox that lives at the Shrine in the shopping district." Yukiko realised "I wonder why it came all this way to help?"

"I don't know but were lucky it did." Kanji stated "It saves us some major trouble."

"Hey, we should probably get him to a bathroom and change him into normal clothes before someone see's him and starts putting two and two together."

"Oh shit yeah." Chie said.

"Here's the bag, I put the mask and wig in it earlier before we left." Rise said holding up the backpack "It has his regular clothes in it."

The team then proceeded to awkwardly sneak their unconscious friend to the bathroom, in order to keep his heroic identity a secret.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[06/23 Thursday, Tatsuhime, North Shopping District Inaba]

At the deserted shrine Aika stood out of sight behind it, waiting. Hearing a thud from atop the shrine she saw the Fox looking down at her before leaping to the ground.

"Good work partner." Aika said to the fox.

She dug into her bag and pulled out a bowl of freshly cooked meats and put it down on the ground. Out of a nearby hidden den three cubs emerged enticed by the smell of the meat.

"When you're done, can you return the bowl?" Aika asked receiving an affirmative howl from the fox.

With that, the girl walked away, after all these deliveries wouldn't do themselves.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[06/24 Thursday, Deserted lot behind Marukyu Tofu, Inaba]

A mere day since being rescued Rise received a text from Yu asked her to come this deserted lot. In the middle of the lot was a small box with a folded up letter on it. Approaching she saw the letter said 'FOR RISE' on it.

The idol picked up the letter and opened the box. Inside of it was a blue domino mask. Picking it up and opened the letter, she saw instructions.

'Dear Rise, please install Caster and put on the mask afterwards. All will be revealed, from Yu.'

" _Vague instructions_ " Tamamo noted appearing in spirit form " _Well what do we have to lose? This could be fun._ "

"Alright here goes." Rise summoned the card and concentrated, like Yu a magic circle appeared beneath her. "INSTALL!"

She slammed the card against her own chest and was enveloped by a burst of pure Prana. When it faded she found Tamamo's mirror floating in front of her. Her entire appearance now matched that of her Persona. The Pink hair, the clothes, even the fox ears on her head had feeling when she touched them, she shivered when she stroked the tail poking out from her backside.

" _Oh you look so cute looking me master!_ " Tamamo exclaimed with joy.

Rise decided to complete the instructions and put the mask on.

"Up here." She heard a familiar heroic voice and leapt up on the roof of Marukyu. She landed next Space Samurai Y.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Rise asked "You were really injured after yesterday."

"Nope, I feel better than ever probably thanks to that magic fox you told me about." The Hero stated. "Now then, my reason for bring you here was simple, I would you to be my partner in heroism!"

"Me?!" Rise asked flustered "A superhero?"

"Is that a no?"

"No, I'll do it." Rise nodded with a smile "You make it look like a lot of fun. But I need a superhero name."

" _Oh, use my name master._ " Tamamo suggested excitedly " _Between that and the Install and the mask no one will figure you out._ "

"Alright, from this day forth I am the great heroine Tamamo-chan!" Tamamo-chan declared striking a pose like a capital T.

"And I am her partner Space Samurai Y! Woah!" Just as he went to strike his pose the samurai lost his balance and bounced backwards on his head before fall out off the roof and crashing into some garbage cans.

The Foxy hero couldn't help herself and burst out laughing. It felt strange doing this, but in a good way. Even though she was behind a mask, it felt like she was free, she could do anything and not have to worry about embarrassment, or repercussions or anything.

Watching her from below after recovering from the crash the masked man felt another soul connect to him from beyond.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: A big thanks once again to SaintInfernalNeos for the scene's he contributed to this chapter.


End file.
